Iggy
by Reverie Wilde
Summary: Re-editing and condensing chapters. Takes place one year after FANG. Pretend Angel never happened. Fang comes back with a new flock, who just happen to be matches for the originals. They join forces to get Gunther-Hagen once and for all. BIG story for Iggy and OC. A little MYLAN in the beginning, but plenty of FAX! If you weren't thrilled with Angel, read this. FAX, IGGY x OC
1. Chapter 1

***This is basically a re-post of this story, but in more manageable chapters, with some editing. I've been meaning to clean this up, and with Nevermore coming out soon, now is as good a time as any. This fic takes place about a year after Fang, in place of Angel (which I wasn't thrilled with). The chapters alternate between third person and Max's point of view, like Patterson's writing.**

oooOOOOOooo

Dr. Gunther-Hagen peered through the small window embedded with chicken wire, into the room containing one of his newest genetically enhanced clones. The clone looked to be sufficiently broken down, in spirit, if not physically. The doctor chose one of the five keys on his key ring and slowly unlocked the door, keeping an eye on the occupant cowering in the corner.

"How are you today?" he asked.

The clone looked up with fearful eyes.

"Come now." Dr. Gunther-Hagen held out his hand. "I won't hurt you. I want to help you."

The good doctor's assistants had been doing an excellent job depriving the clone of food and sleep. Not to mention instilling the terror of unnecessary experimentation and threats of death. Good cop, bad cop was such a cliche, but it worked wonders on those with very little life experience. And here was the doctor to offer hope. At a price, of course. He transferred his cane to his left hand and held out his right. The cane had not merely been an affectation, but a necessity after losing half of his right foot due to frostbite. Being locked in cold storage by the flock was an equitable punishment. He'd had it coming, he supposed, after almost killing Fang. The cane only added to his benign facade.

The clone held out a trembling hand.

"I know you're frightened, but I can help you get out of here and to a family that will take care of you. Give you a normal existence." Dr. Gunther-Hagen said gently.

"Thank you," the clone said weakly. "Thank you so much. I don't know how to thank you enough."

Of course, Dr. Gunther-Hagen did. "First, let's get you out of here."

Biting a lip, the clone looked cautiously around, then followed the doctor.

The doctor, trying to act as if he had just come up with an idea, said, "You know, maybe you can help me. Some very dangerous mutants caused me the injury that forces me to use this cane." He exaggerated his limp to garner sympathy. "The others are being taken to a safe place. You could join them. They will probably cross paths with those dangerous creatures. Perhaps you could find a way to bring them to justice." He paused. "Oh, but I'd hate to make you wait to join that family. It may take months."

The clone was only too eager. "No. I mean, if it would help you, I'd be willing to go. I want to repay your kindness."

Dr. Gunther-Hagen smiled. If only everything was this easy.

oooOOOOOooo

I heard the light rain on the roof trying to lull me to sleep. I couldn't even close my eyes. I wanted tomorrow to come and go and be over with. No one in the house has even mentioned it. Tomorrow would mark one year since Fang left. I thought of him every day. Tonight I could think of nothing else. I heard my door click open and then gently shut.

"Angel?" I asked. She'd been coming in to sleep with me sometimes, trying to comfort me. There was no answer.

"Nudge?"

"No, it's me," a deep voice answered. "Can't you sleep?"

I was suddenly wide awake when I realized it was Dylan in my room. He'd never been in there before, even in the day time, much less in the middle of the night.

"What do you want?" I asked, irritated.

"You seemed restless tonight," he said. "Can I help?"

"I'm fine, go back to bed."

I felt the other side of the bed jiggle as he sat down. "I know what tomorrow is," he said quietly.

"I really thought he'd be back by now." I said, almost in a whisper.

The tears started to burn in my eyes. Everyone else pretended to not remember, but not Dylan. He couldn't hide anything, always to the point. In truth, he's refreshing that way, considering the other men in my life. As far as I know, he's never lied to me. But his honesty was brutal sometimes.

"You're going to go look for him, aren't you?" He said it more as a statement than a question. "Even though he asked you not to."

I rolled over toward him and held out my hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Max. I don't take orders well."

He laughed. He was finally getting better at spotting sarcasm.

"I hate to see you cry," he said as he leaned in to hold me, "no ulterior motives here. I promise."

So I let him hug me and stroke my hair. And he let me cry myself to sleep, like a baby.

oooOOOOOooo

When I woke up in the morning, I was alone. It was the first decent night's sleep I'd gotten in a long time. I didn't even hear him leave. I looked over at the clock. 10:00. 10:00?! Why didn't anybody wake me? I got up and wandered past the flock in the living room, into the kitchen. Iggy was busy whipping up something and it smelled heavenly.

"Is that breakfast?" I asked.

"Nope. Anniversary cake."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Iggy finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"You know, for Total and Akila," he said, laughing forcedly.

Angel walked in and put her arms around me. She looked up at me and whispered, "And the bad anniversary too. We all think about it, but we don't want to make you sad."

"I know sweetie," I said, "but not talking about doesn't make it go away. Everyone misses him."

"I don't think Dylan does," she laughed.

I ate four or five bowls of cereal. A light breakfast. I went back into my room to change. I decided to go to the cliffs where we lived for a while among the hawks. Fang's note said to meet there in 20 years but I couldn't wait that long. I was hoping he couldn't either. I found myself getting nervous and excited. What would I find when I got to the cliffs? How would I feel if he wasn't there? There was only one way to find out. I took care combing my hair-believe it or not. The clothes I chose were comfortable jeans and a t-shirt with no blood stains or rips. I wanted to look nice. Finally, I was ready to go.

"I'm going out," I said quickly and went to the window as fast as I could so no one would have time to ask where.

Not fast enough.

"Where? Where? Can I go too?" Angel and the Gasman asked.

"No. Dylan, keep an eye on everyone." I didn't bother elaborating. He knew where I was going. Angel probably did too. If they really needed to find me, they would.

I jumped out the window and spread my wings. The sun felt so wonderful on them. It was the perfect kind of day for flying lazily around. Warm sun, but not too warm. Not too chilly-even up here. No time to linger for me, though. I wanted to get to the cliffs as soon as possible.

It seemed to take forever to get there. In reality, it took about two and a half hours. When it was in sight, my stomach started to get that butterfly feeling inside. Except it was more like bats. I was really afraid I was going to throw up all that cereal.

I landed and looked around a bit. It didn't look like anyone had been there recently. No fire remains, no footprints, no food wrappers. I decided to wait for a while. My mind wandered back to the time we were all together. Fang and I were just starting to get that more-than-friends-feeling. He first kissed me here. Why did I fight it so hard?

All at once, I felt someone else's presence and quickly turned around.

"I knew you'd. . ." I trailed off.

There was someone standing at the entrance with the sun streaming behind. I couldn't make out the details but it definitely wasn't Fang. For one, the wings were white.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Fang's not coming, Max," she said. She? She knew Fang?

At first, I was speechless. Me. Yes. Speechless. What the heck is going on?! There were a thousand questions going through my head at once. Who was she? She seemed familiar. How did she know Fang? How many bird-people are there out there that we don't know about? How did she know who I was? Finally, I picked one to ask out loud.

"How do you know Fang?" I asked. Not sure if I wanted the answer to that one. So I asked another right away.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine."

"Where is he?" I tried not to sound desperate, which, of course, I was.

"Can't tell," she said coldly.

I was fuming. I needed to calm down and figure things out. If I was going to get answers out of her, I needed to pull myself together and be rational. Ha!

"Okay, obviously, you're another experiment. You know Fang. You know who I am." I started out nice enough. "Do I have to beat the snot out of you to get some answers?"

"I am. I do. I do. And I'd prefer not." She was a girl of few words. "I'll answer what I can, but there are things I just can't tell you."

I got up from the floor and walked to the mouth of the cave. She turned toward me, the sunlight on her face. Oh My God. She looked just like me. Jeez, another one?! There were subtle, and not so subtle differences. Her eyes were green and her wings pure white. They were beautiful, like Angel's. And, boy these scientists were cruel-she had red hair. Perfect.

As if reading my mind she said, "Your DNA is floating around out there. Somebody was going to use it again sooner or later."

"Yeah, you're number three. Get in line." I quipped.

"But I'm the new and improved you. So I'm me. My name is Miranda.

"Improved?"

"I'm educated, too," she said. "Unlike you."

Okay, now I was mad. I'll bet she didn't grow up in a dog crate. Well, I guess she could have.

"I've kicked my butt before, I can do it again."

"No doubt. But I'm not your enemy," she began. "Someday we'll work together. We're learning everything we can so we can join you. Fang is training us."

"Us? There are more of you? They don't all look like me, do they?" It sounded stupid as soon as I said it.

"Don't be so full of yourself. They made me look like you so Fang would accept me more readily. Not fight it, like you've done," she explained. "There are four more of us."

And just like that, a little light bulb went on over my head. Dylan for me. Her for Fang. And four more for the rest of my flock. In a way, it made sense. I mean, who else are we really going to have lasting relationships with-regular people? Just traveling alone would be complicated. It worked for Total and Akila, but they're dogs.

"Another girl, about your age, maybe a little younger," Miranda interrupted my inner monologue. "She's for Iggy. I'm sure you can figure out the rest for yourself."

"Are they cloned from people we know?" 'Cause that would be weird. Even weirder than me.

"None of the others have formed passionate relationships with anyone else yet. The illusion isn't necessary," sounding Vulcan-like.

"Uh, passionate relationships. Like boyfriend and girlfriend stuff," I paused. "So do you and Fang have. . . a passionate. . ." I couldn't even finish that sentence.

"He's warming to me." That didn't tell me much. "We are like a family. Fang is training us well and someday we'll be fighting on the same side. And we'll continue the human race. More or less. If you know what's good for you, you'll accept Dylan. Don't keep looking for us. It'll just set everything back."

I wanted to hate her. So much. She was trying to take my place. I guessed she already did. But Fang didn't come here himself. He knew I'd be here and he didn't come. He sent her. Was it really over? I wanted to cry, but no way was I doing that in front of her.

"It's what he wants. He's a good leader. Let him lead." Miranda said. "He left a note at your mother's house. Go see her."

She turned to leave when we saw an object flying toward us. Did he come after all? My heart skipped a beat. As the object grew closer, I could see that it was Dylan, looking confused.

"What the heck did I miss?" he asked, his mouth agape.

"Close your mouth. I'll explain later. She was just leaving," I said to him. To her, I said, "If you're lying about any of this and Fang's in trouble, I will kill you. I promise you that."

"Yeah, I know you will. I know you can. But I have no reason to lie," she said as she turned and spread her wings out, shiny and white. "Go to your mother."

"Will you tell him I was here?" I said, trying so hard not to cry.

She glanced back with sympathy in her eyes, "Of course." And then she was gone.

I spent the next fifteen or twenty minutes trying to fill Dylan in on the story. It was all so overwhelming. Everyone kept telling me we would all be leading our own flocks someday but I still held on to the notion that we were going to save the world as it was. Not save it for future mutants. Then I realized I never asked her where she came from or how Fang found them.

"You need to go back. You're supposed to be looking after everyone," I said to Dylan dismissively.

"Jeb's there. And they can take care of themselves. I want to go with you."

"I really need to talk to my mom alone," I stood my ground, but softened at the look of disappointment on his face. "Please?" I paused and gave a half smile. "And don't tell anyone about Miranda just yet. Not until we figure what exactly is going on and who's behind it."

He smiled ever so slightly, "It'll be our little secret." And he left before I could rain on his parade.


	2. Chapter 2

**oooOOOOOooo**

Fortunately, Mom moved closer to our new safe house, so she was actually on the way back. As much as I wanted to see Ella, I hoped she wouldn't be home so Mom and I could really talk freely.

"Max! I was just thinking about you. We need to talk," Mom said as she opened the door with a warm wide smile and a hug. Couldn't get enough of those these days.

When she pulled away and saw my face, she said, "You know already, don't you? Max, I swear, he was just here last night. I didn't have a chance to call yet. I was at the clinic all morning."

"He was _here_?" Knowing I missed him by one day felt like a punch in the gut. He knew me too well. He knew I'd be here today. The one date I'll never forget.

Mom handed me an envelope. "He left this for you. I didn't read it. He only told me what he wanted me to know. The rest is for you alone."

My hands were shaking as I opened the envelope. Suddenly my mouth was dry and I could hardly swallow. Part of me wanted to know what the letter said. Part of me knew I wouldn't like it. Well duh, if it was good news, he would have told me in person, right? I unfolded the letter and read.

_Dear Max,_

_ First of all, I'm not dead. Second, if you're reading this, you know what I'm doing. But here it is, in my own words._

_ I've met someone. If you've met her (probably) then you know she looks just like you. But not exactly. She's like Dylan. (read between the lines) Jeb and I rescued her and four others from one of the labs we found. They were abandoned, so I brought them with me to train. I don't know if I can really trust Jeb. It was a little too coincidental, finding a matched set for all of us. But I thought if I could train them, they'd be on our side. We've been living together like a family for about 6 months now. I like being the leader. They look up to me. Now I know why you never wanted to give it up. I feel like I have a real purpose. And I still have my blog for the environmental stuff. Maybe someday we'll join forces with you._

_ I miss you so much. Miranda looks like you, but she's not. She could never be. At first, I sort of pretended she was. I was living in a fantasy world. But she doesn't have your passion, the memories we share, or my heart. That will forever belong to you. No matter what else happens. (again, read between the lines)_

_ Jeb tells me you've moved on, that you and Dylan are together and that you're happy. That's all I ever wanted for you-to be happy. I just wish I was there to see it._

_ Please don't look for us. Jeb doesn't know where we are. He only sends money and letters. Your mom doesn't know either. Who knows what the future will bring? For now, this is the way it is._

_ Yours Always,_

_ Fang_

_P.S. Tell the flock I miss them. So Much._

_P.S.S. Don't beat the crap out of Jeb for information. He really doesn't know where I am._

Splat! Splat! Big fat tears fell onto the paper making the ink start to run. Leave it to Fang to make me laugh and cry at the same time. I just stood there numb for what seemed like forever. My mom came up behind me and gave me a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. I turned around and let her hug me. When the tears finally stopped, I stepped back and sat down on a kitchen stool. Mom handed me a tissue or five.

"Jeb," I spat. "He knew. He knew this whole time and didn't say anything!" My fists were clenched at my sides.

"Fang asked him not to." It sounded like she was defending him.

"Well, he told Fang I was happy, like I forgot all about him or something. And Miranda saw Dylan at the cave. Now he'll really believe it. Why didn't you tell him how I really am?" I asked accusingly.

"He didn't ask. And I didn't tell," she paused. "I think deep down, he didn't really want to know. I think he knew that if he asked me, I would tell him the truth. He couldn't be sure Jeb would."

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"If I told him that you had moved on with Dylan, and that you were happy, he would be heartbroken. And he would know he did it to himself by breaking your heart first. But that's what Jeb told him already. If I told him you were miserable, again, he would be reminded that he broke your heart and be tempted to come back and set things right," she reasoned.

"Would that be so bad?" I asked quietly.

"Fang's got a purpose. He may not be truly happy without you, but he feels like he's making a difference. He's trying to move on the best he can. Maybe you should too," she brushed the hair out of my face and lifted my chin up. "I want you to be happy too."

Now my own mother was pushing Dylan at me! "Not you too. You think I should be with Dylan, don't you?"

"I think you should be open to possibilities. Fang was your first love. First love doesn't always last. Sometimes, not even second or third love." She gave a half-laugh.

Was she still talking about me? Was she expecting me to go through the whole flock?! She had a weird far off look. Was she talking about herself? Come to think of it, where was Ella's father? I wanted to press that point, but it would have to wait until another time.

"What should I do?"

"First, I think you should figure out how you feel. Not what you think you're supposed to feel, not what someone else tells you to feel. Even if it's painful to admit," she said. She was pretty smart. "So how do you feel?"

I felt my chin quivering. I needed to say it out loud.

"I'm angry. So angry at Fang for leaving us, me. He could have stayed and fought together, like we always did. He once told me he chose me, but he didn't choose me this time," Great, here come the tears again. I haven't cried this much in the last two years!

"And what about Dylan?" she had to ask. "Honestly. You don't have to tell me, but be honest with yourself."

"Okay. I'll think about it," I meant it. Then I realized it was getting late. "When's Ella coming home? I have to go soon."

"Oh, I didn't know you were waiting for her. She's sleeping over at a friend's house. Don't worry, the house is being watched," she said, as if she could read my mind. We all had to be careful these days, what with all those crazy scientists crawling out of the woodwork.

We said our goodbyes and I was off. I was trying to let my mind go and enjoy the wind in my hair. There were so many thoughts going in and out of my head, but all I could really think about was food. When I walked through the door at seven o'clock, eight starving pairs of eyes were glaring at me. Mmmm. Beef stew.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Max, you're back!" Angel squealed.

"Yay, we can eat!" yelled Gazzy.

"Smells great, Ig. You guys sit down." I immediately made eye contact with Jeb, "We need to talk."

I walked out onto the deck and waited for him to follow.

"I saw Mom today."

"Oh," he said casually. He glanced back into the house like he knew what was coming and didn't want anyone to hear.

"She gave me a letter. From Fang," I elaborated.

"Max, I di-,"

"Shut up!" I yelled. "The only reason I am not kicking your butt is because Fang's letter told me not to. Why didn't you tell me what he was doing? Or that he's okay? You know I've been worried!"

"Max," a voice interrupted.

"What!" I turned to see it was Dylan.

"You might want to keep it down," he started. "And everyone's getting really hungry."

I turned back to Jeb. "This isn't over. And just so you know, I trust you even less than I did before. For some stupid reason, my mom still does. That's the only reason you're still here." I put my best game face on and walked back into the house.

"Sorry guys. Let's eat."

We didn't leave any scraps. I practically licked my bowl clean. Then Iggy carried in a big fancy cake and put it in the middle of the table. The words Happy Anniversary were written neatly in pink icing across the top. Oh Crap! I forgot. That's why they waited for me, so we could all celebrate together. Either I had a funny look on my face or Angel was in my head again.

"Are you okay Max?" she asked.

"Fine, thanks," I smiled weakly.

"We all miss him," Nudge said.

"Nudge!" at least three of them chimed in.

"What?" she replied. "Everyone's thinking about it."

They didn't forget after all. That made me feel a little better,

Total grumbled, "Great, so is our anniversary always going to be associated with Fang leaving?"

"Total!" again, at least three chimed in.

I stood up. "Total's right. This is supposed to be their night. Jeb, weren't you going to fly them to Paris or something?"

"Oooh, we're going next week. I'm going to try escargot," Total sounded delighted.

"Good," I looked at Jeb. "You stay here and make sure everyone's having fun tonight." I turned to Dylan, "We're going out."

Everyone just stared at me for a few seconds until Nudge finally broke the silence.

"Like. . .on a date?"

Again, silence. I tried not to feel their seven pairs of eyes on me. Akila was too busy licking herself to be aware of the tension in the room.

"Yes," I said. "We'll bring back some ice cream."

Then all eyes were on Dylan. He looked a little flushed, and surprised. I walked to my room to put on some more date-worthy clothes. Nudge and Angel followed me in.

"Can I do your hair?" Nudge squealed.

"It's not that big a deal, Nudge. We're just going for ice cream and to talk."

"Why now?" Angel asked.

"It's time," I answered.

"Are you giving up on Fang?"

I faced her and put my hands on her shoulders. "I would never give up on Fang. Never. But it's been a year and we don't know if he's ever coming back," I answered.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dylan and I took everyone's ice cream orders and took off for the nearest cute little town. We found a place that looked like it was lost in time. There was a small riverside park on one side of the street and a row of storefronts on the other. I've always heard of one-horse towns before, and this was exactly what I pictured. We walked down the street toward a corner ice cream parlor. It had wrought iron cafe tables and chairs with mint green and pale pink cushions. Like, right out of the fifties. There was even a juke box in the back playing something I just heard on the radio yesterday. Okay, not so lost in time as I thought after all. We ordered double scoops and decided to sit at the benches across the street by the river.

Dylan finally spoke up. "So, I'm not complaining, but why all of a sudden, are we out together? Alone."

"It was time." That's what I told Angel. I thought he deserved a little more of an explanation, so I continued. "After talking to my mom, I decided I was stuck in a place I didn't want to be."

"The fact that Fang's shacking up with your look-alike had nothing to do with it?" He shot back. Ouch!

"Touché. My mom gave me a letter from him. Long story short, he's doing what he needs to do and he's not coming back right now. Whatever will be, will be." Isn't that a song?

"So, wait for him, don't wait for him. He's not making any promises," he said bluntly.

I sighed, "And neither should I." I did like the way he always cut to the chase. He sometimes stepped on people's feelings, but they always knew where they stood with him. "So, I thought we ought to get to know each other a little better. Beyond the superficial video game playing and martial arts butt kicking."

"I already know everything about you," he said, sounding a little creepy. He tried to make it sound less creepy by adding, "Everything that matters. I mean, obviously I don't know everything. That would make me a stalker or something. I'm not stalking you." He decided he'd put his foot in his mouth about as far as it would go and stopped talking.

It was awkward, but I needed to know what he was thinking. What did he think he knew about me? What made him think he could love me besides Dr. Frankenstein telling him he was supposed to. That was a lot of thinking-I needed action.

"So tell me what you know about me, if you know me so well."

"I know you're beautiful and strong and a great leader," he began.

"No, I mean about me. Inside. What I like, what I don't like, stuff like that." I was sure I had him stumped.

He looked at me thoughtfully. "You like our little house in the woods, but you love the beach best. You say your favorite color is blue, but it's really pink." I looked down at my ring. Fang's ring. "You can't cook. Your favorite food is your mom's chocolate chip cookies. You hate fiercely, you love just as fiercely. The gentler side of you likes wildflowers and the scent of lemons. You look like an angel when you sleep, but you can probably kick my butt from here to Timbuktu. You're like Yin and Yang. Opposites that come together in perfect harmony."

My jaw slowly dropped as I stared in disbelief. I was vaguely aware of ice cream dripping down my arm.

"Did they program all that stuff into you?" I asked, stupidly.

He looked insulted, and rightly so. "I'm not a computer! I know these things because I pay attention. I've watched you and listened. I wanted to get to know the real you. Not the image, the icon they drilled into me."

"You mean like, brainwashing? I always thought it was in your DNA or something." I sounded so stupid, again. But I couldn't stop. "Like being near me gave you goosebumps or butterflies or something. I guess that's kind of . . . " I trailed off, not able to find the right words. Stupid was overused.

"Crazy?" he asked. "Look at us. At this point, nothing is too far fetched. Dr. Gunther-Hagen talked about you every day. He showed me pictures of you. He wanted me to worship you, literally, like a goddess. I didn't know any better."

Talk about being put on a pedestal. I suddenly felt ashamed at the way I've treated him over the past year. It wasn't his fault. Meeting a deity could make anyone obsess. Still, he took the time to find out about me, the person.

"You're a mess," he said as he wiped the ice cream off my arm. "Aren't you going to eat that?"

"What? Oh, yeah." I said, lost in thought. I took a few more licks, then decided I didn't want it after all. I held the cone out to him and raised my eyebrows to ask if he wanted it. He took it and polished it off in no time.

Afterward, he said nonchalantly, "I didn't get goosebumps and butterflies in the beginning, but I do now." Which was about the sweetest thing I'd heard in a long time. "Hey, a music store," he said pointing across the street. "I told Nudge I'd pick up a new CD for us. Come on."

It was like he had no idea that he was dangerously close to sweeping me off my feet.

The store was more crowded than I thought it would be for such a small town. I was busy looking at CDs of people that I had no idea who they were when Dylan walked away from me. For a minute I panicked. I didn't see him anywhere. Did someone take him? Finally, I saw him with a guitar in his hand.

"You play guitar?" I asked. "Since when?"

"I went on line. I've been teaching myself. I'm teaching Iggy, too. He totally rocks. He can just feel it."

Still confused. "We don't have any guitars." Was I that unobservant?

"Jeb got them for us. He thought it would broaden our horizons. I think those were the words he used."

I smiled, "Hmm. I guess once in a while he has a good idea. Play something."

"I'm not really good enough to play in public yet. When I am, you'll be the first to hear. I wrote a song for you."

He wrote a song for me? This boy was campaigning hard. He picked out a Maroon 5 CD for Nudge and we headed down the street. The street lamps were softly glowing and the night sky was clear. We talked about various subjects along the way. The conversation was relatively easy, but in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about what my mom said. Be honest with myself about my feelings for Dylan. He may as well hear them when I do. We were back on the bench under a starry sky. I was working up the courage to say what I had to say.

Start small.

"I had no idea you were learning guitar. I'm impressed."

"I guess there's a lot about me you don't know," he paused. "Do you know anything about me?" He was forcing my hand. I hate that.

"I know your favorite ice cream is Rocky Road." I said sheepishly.

"That doesn't count. I told you that at the ice cream parlor," he sounded a little dejected.

Okay, time to man up. "I know your favorite color is green."

"Oh?" he was looking for more.

"It must be. You spend hours on the deck looking at the greenery." He seemed unimpressed. "You prefer sunrise to sunset." I knew this because he was always up before everyone else, watching it. "You're kind and patient, especially with the younger kids. You let Gazzy beat you at video games. Everyone likes having you around. And you drink out of the milk carton when you think no one's looking." He gave a little 'oops' smile. Then everything I'd been afraid to admit came pouring out.

"When the sun hits your hair and wings, they glow golden. You smell like a spring day. You are brutally honest. Your laugh is infectious. I can hardly look you in the eyes because I'm afraid you can see into my soul. And as hard as I've fought it, I like being around you." I paused and stood. "But I haven't been very nice to you."

I walked toward the river, feeling like a traitor. How could I have any feelings for Dylan when I still loved Fang? But a weight had been lifted. I couldn't fight it any more. He walked to me and took my hands in his.

"I didn't expect to get all that," he swallowed hard. I could tell he was nervous. He slowly pulled his hands behind his back, taking mine with them, forcing me to move closer until our bodies were touching. He tilted his head and leaned in further. When our lips touched, it felt like a spark. His lips were impossibly soft. He moved his hands around my waist and pulled me closer until there was no space between us at all. I finally gave in.


	3. Chapter 3

**oooOOOOOooo**

Reluctantly, we decided to go back home. It was late, so the only place to get ice cream for the others was a convenient store. The cashier must have thought we were crazy buying six half gallons at midnight. We couldn't stop giggling. I was totally giddy. And free. Freer than I felt in a long time. A year, to be exact.

When we got home, the lights were out, which wasn't a problem with our super-vision. We went to the kitchen to put the ice cream away.

"There's not enough room in the freezer," Dylan whispered.

"Put it in the garage freezer," I answered.

As soon as he left the room, my Voice paid a visit.

_This is good, Max. Go with it. You and Dylan will be great partners in every way._

"Butt out," I said out loud.

Dylan chuckled as he walked back in, "Your friendly neighborhood Voice?"

"It has impeccable timing," I laughed. "I guess it's time to call it a night." But neither of us made a move to leave.

Eventually, he walked over, kissed me and said, "Goodnight. This was the best night of my life." Which, technically was only about two years. But still, it was sweet. There's that word, sweet, again.

We walked our separate ways, him to the guy's wing, me to the girl's wing (no pun intended). I brushed my teeth and hair and got in bed. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep. After about twenty minutes of lying there, staring at the ceiling, I got up to get a snack. I quietly padded out to the kitchen and opened the fridge. I heard movement in the living room and ducked down out of sight behind the counter.

"Is someone there?" a voice called.

"Dylan?" I asked, standing up. "What are you doing on the couch?"

"I forgot that I told Jeb he could have my bed tonight."

"I forgot he was still here." I said as I walked over to the couch. "You can't be comfortable."

Shaking his head, he pulled the covers down, revealing the fact that he was only wearing gym shorts. I couldn't help marveling at his perfectly muscular lean body. He seemed to be thinking the same about me. I was wearing my sleep tank and itty bitty sleep shorts, which I tried to subtly tug down a bit. I didn't expect to find anyone out in the living room while I raided the fridge.

Food was no longer at the top of my priorities list.

"You don't have to sleep out here," I held out my hand. What was I doing? Where was my Voice to stop me?

"Are you sure?" He whispered.

"No," I laughed nervously. "But you shouldn't have to sleep out here."

He followed me into my room. It was still dark. We each slipped into the bed from opposite sides of the bed and slid to the middle facing each other. I was trembling all over.

"Roll over," he said, gently pushing me away from him.

He scootched close to me. His hand moved from my shoulder, down my arm and around my waist. It settled on my stomach. He kissed the back of my neck and tenderly rested his chin there.

"We're not ready," he whispered, then wrapped his feet in mine. "Sweet dreams."

Secretly very relieved, I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes. And got the best night sleep I got in a long time. A year, to be exact.

**oooOOOOOooo**

The sound of chirping birds awakened me. I was lingering over the sounds of their songs until another sound entered my consciousness. People talking in the living room. I shot up in bed.

"Dylan, get up!" I whisper-yelled.

I looked to find the bed empty. I looked at the bathroom door. It was open and the bathroom empty, too. I remembered that he liked to get up early to watch the sunrise. I threw on some clothes and walked out to the kitchen, trying to look as casual as possible. Iggy and Gazzy were already playing video games, Angel and Nudge were on their third bowls of cereal, and Dylan was on the couch, wrapped in a blanket. He looked like he'd slept there all night. To complete the illusion, Jeb came walking out of Dylan's room, right on cue.

"Thanks for letting me use your room, Dylan. I hope the couch wasn't too uncomfortable."

Dylan and I exchanged quick glances. With a wide smile, he said, "Nope. Slept like a baby."

"But he'll need his room back, so you can leave any time," I said coldly.

Dylan jumped off the couch quickly, grabbed me by the arm and led me to the terrace.

"What're you doing?" he asked. "If he leaves now, we'll never get to spend any time alone. As I recall, lack of supervision is what got you and Fang into trouble."

Wow, he doesn't mince words. Rationally speaking, he was right. And for some reason, the others liked having Jeb around again. They didn't know all he kept from us.

"Fine. He can stay. I have no trouble using him as long as he's useful." I huffed.

We walked in and Dylan went to smooth things over with Jeb while Nudge came and linked her elbow around mine. She led me to the kitchen counter where she and Angel put their heads next to mine.

"So, how did it go last night?" Nudge asked in a sing-song voice.

"Fine," I said and started to walk away.

She grabbed my elbow again. "Oh no you don't. You're not getting away with 'fine'."

"Okay," I said. Then I couldn't help smiling. "It was actually, great. But I'm not giving you details. You'll have to use your imagination."

"Are you happy Max?" Angel asked.

"Yes, sweetie," In fact, I was.

"Then we'll all be happy again," she said optimistically.

Dylan came up behind us, put his arms around my waist and kissed my cheek. "What's for breakfast girls?"

So much for imagination. I felt my face get hot. He wasn't into hiding his feelings. He was an open book. That would take some getting used to.

Life was good. Everyone was getting along for a change. Jeb finally left. Dylan and I didn't need him around so we could catch a few stolen kisses. It was all out in the open. And everyone seemed okay with it. Surprisingly, even me. Well, at first, Dylan would sneak into my room at night and leave by sunrise. Then, one day, he didn't leave. Maybe they already knew because no one raised an eyebrow when we walked out together one morning. Ever the gentleman, he never pressed for more than a good night's sleep. It was comfortable and sweet. There's that word again.

So, of course, someone had to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing.

**oooOOOOOooo**

I decided to go to bed a little early. It was a tough day of training and I was beat. Plus, I thought I might actually get up to watch that sunrise Dylan loved so much.

I walked into my room and flicked on a small table lamp. Immediately, I could feel that someone was in the room with me. I turned, ready for action, to see-Fang standing by the window. My heart just about skipped three beats.

He put his index finger up to his lips and mouthed 'sshh'. I stood, frozen, blinking to be sure what I saw was real. When I was, I ran to him. I hugged him tighter than I've ever hugged anyone. We broke apart so we could look at each other. He looked the same, but different too. More mature, I guess. His hair was long, even for him. I could barely see his eyes.

"Hello, Max," he whispered.

"Hi," I squeaked out, my voice breaking. "What are you doing here? Why are we whispering?"

"I can't stay long. I came back to see if you were okay," he said.

"No, you can't go away again," I said desperately. "I've-we've missed you so much."

He just continued, "Someone tried to get to Miranda. Nearly got her. We've been looking for Dr. Gunther-Hagen's new labs. Most of the places we found were shut down and moved. I think they thought she was you. That's why I came back. To warn you."

"That's the only reason?"

He ignored the comment. "I don't know who it was. But it was humans, not some new creatures. We found a new hiding place. I'm sure we'll be safe."

Searching his face for emotion, "Is that all?" I asked. He wasn't giving anything away.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment, then his face softened a bit.

"I've missed you too," he said. "All of you. I can't come back yet. My flock is getting stronger, but they're not ready yet."

I was so jealous. His new family to love. I tried to understand, though.

"I hope it's soon."

"Are you happy, Max?" he asked, maybe to ease his guilt.

Reluctantly, I answered, "Yes." I couldn't lie to him.

"I'm glad," he said, pausing like he had more to say. "I didn't want to hurt you. I still -"

We both heard the doorknob move. In a flash, Fang jumped back behind the opening door and out of sight. I just stood in the middle of the room like a deer in the headlights. It was Dylan walking in. He swung the door closed behind him.

"You still up? I thought you'd be in bed by now," he said as he walked toward me, smiling. He saw me look behind him and his smiled dropped. He whirled around and readied himself.

"Oh," he said, and the two of them stood there trying to stare each other down. Dylan finally said, "Should I go?"

"I was just leaving," Fang said.

"I wasn't talking to you," Dylan then turned to me.

"No," I said, trying to sound reassuring. "I'll be right back.

I walked over to the window and Fang followed me out onto the wide ledge. He stroked my cheek. The wind blew his hair away from his face and he had a look of regret in his eyes.

"Be careful," he said.

"I will," I wanted to say so much more.

He looked into the room and asked, "Do you love him?"

I hesitated. "I, um," I wasn't sure what to say. I had to look away.

He took my right hand and wiggled the ring on my finger.

"Maybe it's time you took that off, then." He wasn't angry. There was no malice in his voice. It was his way of telling me not to wait for him. Not to hope for our future. Or maybe that he was giving up on it. He turned away from me spread his wings. God, I loved them. Black as midnight.

He said, "Take care," and took off.

"But," I said, even though I knew he couldn't hear me. "I still love you." I heard the door to my room slam shut. Well, somebody heard me. Crap!

I climbed back in my room to find it empty and walked over to my dresser. I pulled my jewelry box over and opened it. Inside were mementos of my life with Fang. Some sea shells we collected on a few beaches. A picture of us when we were eleven. I was taller than him. A movie ticket stub. And three letters he wrote me-two 'goodbyes' and a 'how I'm doing'. I picked up the picture. There weren't too many pictures of the flock. Only a few from when Jeb lived with us. Life was good back then. We had a dad and nobody was in love with anybody else. I put the picture back and sighed.

_You can't go back Max. No matter how much you want to. He's moved on._

Thanks Voice.

Maybe it was time to take off the ring. I slipped it off my finger and gently placed it in the box. The back of the sock drawer seemed as good a place as any to put it away. Even if it was cliche. As I closed the drawer, it occurred to me that I got that ring as a birthday present, over a year ago. Huh. I guess I'm sixteen now. I should remind everyone that we're a year older. Tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Not too many readers. . . I guess nobody likes Iggy as much as me :) I realize it's not about him yet. Don't worry, it will be. Thanks for those who are reading so far!**

* * *

**oooOOOOOooo**

I opened my eyes to a grey morning. No happy little birds chirping today. It was like the sky was sympathizing with me. I wasn't looking forward to facing Dylan. I would have to hope he'd understand. There was a knock at my door.

It was Nudge, "Are you up?"

"Come in," I called. She opened the door.

"Better get a move on," she said. "Reconnaissance this morning. Remember? We're headed to another Itex lab."

We flew our mission without a hitch. Other than the lab we tried to pillage was already empty. Not much info there. It felt good to be flying with a purpose again. But I was on special guard after what Fang told me the night before. What was it he started to say-if Dylan hadn't walked in? I had to put that out of my mind. I was moving on, remember?

Dylan seemed to be avoiding me as much as possible. He stayed in his room most of the day. It didn't go unnoticed. At one point or another, everyone asked if I was okay. It was driving me crazy. When I finally had enough, I stomped down to Dylan's room. I knocked hard, but didn't wait for an answer before barging in. He was sitting on his bed, guitar in hand. I was expecting him to yell and be angry. He didn't seem to be angry at all. Instead, he looked up, smiled and said, "You're just in time."

"For?"

"I'm ready to play for you."

"Play for me? You're not mad at me?" I thought maybe he didn't hear me talking to Fang after all.

"Listen, Max. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping. I know you'll never be completely over him. You've known him all your life," he said. God, this guy did not know how to be confrontational. If it were me, I would have screamed and yelled and accused until he made all kinds of apologies and promises. Some call me a hot head. I say I'm passionate.

He continued. "I know you're with me now and I trust you." I didn't know if I deserved that trust. In fact, I was fairly sure I didn't.

"So, you haven't been avoiding me all day? Just practicing your guitar?"

"Yeah, we're having a mini concert tonight. Nudge is singing. Did you forget?" he asked.

Oops.

The rest of the night was filled with music and fun. Yeah, you read that right. Just like the freakin' Sound of Music.

**oooOOOOOooo**

We'd been able to stay out of mortal danger for a while. Which was refreshing. We were doing a lot of research and lab plundering. Keeping up on our training, too. Dylan had caught up to and was surpassing our skills quickly. But we found no sign of Dr. Warmandfuzzy. It was too much to hope that he'd given up. He was probably out there somewhere dreaming up new freaks. The CSM still had us make appearances occasionally, mainly for publicity. And only after we checked it out for ourselves. Didn't want any Antarctica repeats. I wondered if Fang ever saw us on the news. Or if he even had a t.v. Or if he missed me as much as I still missed him.

Jeb came by once in a while to check on us and bring us supplies. Everyone thought he was 'so thoughtful'. This is me, rolling my eyes. Like I said before, I don't mind using him as long as he's useful. He told Dylan and me, supposedly in confidence, that he and Fang were close to finding Dr. G-H's new lair. I hated that he was in contact with Fang and I wasn't. It was just one more reason for me to despise him.

Jeb came in, put the groceries down and made a bee-line for me. The rest of the flock made a bee-line for the groceries.

"I have news," he whispered. "Follow me outside."

I looked over to Dylan and nodded for him to join us. Jeb took a letter out of his pocket and unfolded it.

"It's from Fang. He wants you and Dylan to meet him at the cliffs. I assume you know where that is."

I snatched the letter out of his hand to read it. It wasn't even addressed to me. It was a very cursory note, but it was definitely his chicken scratch.

"When?" asked Dylan.

"The eighteenth. That's tomorrow. He wants us to meet them at 9:00 a.m." I said as I read the note.

Jeb had the nerve to ask, "Them?"

"Don't act like you don't know who he's with," I practically spat at him.

"Max, you seem to be under the impression that Fang confides in me," Jeb said. "He only tells me what he wants me to know. Obviously, he has something to say to you, that he doesn't want me to hear. I can only wait here for you to come back. And you will either tell me what it is, or you won't. It will be your choice."

That's right. When he put it that way, he made me feel like I held all the cards. But I knew better.

**oooOOOOOooo**

We took off the next morning just before dawn. The sky was a beautiful pinkish-orangey, with a little bit of purple as the sun rose behind us. I decided not to tell the others we were meeting Fang until after I heard what he had to say. They would have a million questions that I wasn't ready to field just yet. We got to the cliffs before Fang and Miranda.

"So you guys lived here for a while?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, well, mostly the others. I was healing up at my mom's house after getting shot."

"Wow, and I thought Africa was bad. At least I had a cot and a tent," he said.

"Actually, it was probably one of the better, safer places we stayed. We learned some flying techniques from the hawks in the area." I smiled. I didn't tell him that this was where Fang and I shared our first kiss.

We heard the swooping of wings coming our way and walked to the mouth of the cave. My heart was pounding. Fang and Miranda landed and greeted us. I smiled, but Fang's expression was clam and steady as usual. He never did give anything away. If he was happy to see me, he didn't show it. Miranda, on the other hand, walked right up to Dylan and held out her hand.

"Hi. I'm Miranda. We weren't properly introduced last time." Dylan shook her hand and gazed at her, mesmerized. I turned to Fang.

"What did you want to see us about?" I asked, but all I really wanted to do was wrap my arms around him.

"I found the good doctor." His voice was cold. Fang wanted revenge for what he'd done to him. Namely, killing him. Literally. Until I brought him back to life. Dr. Evil went deep into hiding after we left him in cold storage in his lab. We'd been trying to track him down ever since. "I need your help to get him, though. My guys aren't all ready for this kind of operation."

"My pleasure," I said. "Hopefully, he'll resist and accidentally get his scrawny neck snapped."

I slowly became aware of what was going on at the other end of the cave ledge. Dylan and Miranda were having their own conversation. Well, not so much conversation as some serious flirting. I started to walk toward them, when Fang grabbed my wrist to stop me. He slipped a small folded piece of paper into my hand and pushed my hand behind my back. He didn't even glance my way. I quickly shoved the paper into my pocket.

Without missing a beat, he said, "Unfortunately, I think we'll need Jeb's help too." Before I could protest, "We're going to need a place to hold the doctor. And a lot of scientists will want to pick his brain."

"Literally, I hope," I muttered.

"Or we could take care of it ourselves and I'll tell Jeb it was a dead end. It's up to you," he added.

"Miranda!" Fang shouted. "It's time to go!" I wanted to shout, "no, not yet!"

Miranda was touching Dylan's shoulder in too friendly a manner. When she turned to leave, she ran a finger down along his jawline and flicked his chin.

"Looking forward to seeing you again," she said.

"Me too," Dylan called back, with a really stupid look on his face. I was embarrassed for him. And myself. As Miranda walked by me, she whispered, "Better keep an eye on him." She smiled. "Somebody might snatch him right out from under you. Figuratively speaking, of course."

She walked over to join Fang tossing her red hair over her shoulder. Dylan was beginning to compose himself. I went to him and shoved him.

"What's wrong with you?!"

From the other end, Fang called, "I'll contact you. Be ready."

They left without another word. But I had plenty to say.

"What the heck was that all about?" I yelled. "Were you trying to humiliate me for the other night?"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. It was like she had some power over me. Couldn't you feel it?"

"Like Angel's mind control?" I asked. "She seemed pretty smitten herself." I pointed out, annoyed.

"It was they way she smelled or something. It was intoxicating." He looked at me, a little guiltily. "I mean, it felt like my hormones were in overdrive."

"And you think maybe she was doing it on purpose? That's a handy new skill," I said sarcastically.

"Well, it was distracting. I never heard anything you and Fang were talking about. Maybe that was the point," he paused. "What were you talking about?"

"He found your doctor's new set-up. He wants our help to bring him down. He also thinks we need to bring Jeb into it, but he left it up to me. What do you think?" I asked.

"I think Fang's right. We need help."

"Okay, we'll keep Jeb in," I said, reluctantly.

I couldn't help thinking about the way Miranda had Dylan wrapped around her finger-and right in front of me. And Fang. Although, he didn't seem bothered by it. I wondered if Dylan was using something like that on me. That made my blood run cold. Was I only with him because he tricked me? I dismissed that. It would've worked right away, wouldn't it? No, our relationship grew slowly, from friendship. I wasn't dopily love-struck by any stretch of the imagination.

"You're still thinking about Miranda, aren't you?" he smiled.

"We'll just have to keep the two of you away from each other, won't we." I returned the smile. He really was a good guy. "Let's go back and fill Jeb in."

When we got back to the house, we did just that. Jeb said he would make some phone calls and get a facility set up. We decided to keep it from the rest of the flock for now, since we thought only the five of us-Me, Dylan, Fang, Miranda and Jeb would be going on this particular mission. I knew Angel still felt awful about her role in Fang's 'death'. It would be too much for her.

I didn't usually talk to Jeb voluntarily, but I had to ask about the whole hormones gone wild theory of Dylan's. Was I being affected?

"Jeb, can I ask you a question? About our special abilities?" I asked, swallowing my pride.

"Of course. I'll try to answer, but you have all evolved in ways that have been a little unexpected," he answered eagerly. I guess he was just happy I was talking to him at all.

"Would the scientists have programmed something in us to attract other bird people? Like special hormones or scent or something like that?" After I said it, it seemed to me that they wouldn't need to program it. Animals go for their own kind anyway.

"Well, I don't know if they would bother to specifically program something like that. That occurs in nature. They're called pheromones. And people pick up on others people's pheromones all the time. It's why you're attracted to one person, but not another. If the right combination comes together, we call it 'chemistry'. It's very strong in animals, more instinctual. Why do you ask?"

I ignored his question. "Can people control them? Make someone else attracted on purpose?"

"I don't think ordinary people can. With the flock, who knows. It's certainly a possibility. You're developing new skills all the time. Is everything okay?" He actually sounded concerned.

"Oh, yeah. I was just reading about it in one of Nudge's magazines," I lied. Hmm.

The day was warming up so I went in my room to change into shorts. The paper in my pants pocket crinkled when I took them off. How could I have forgotten about the note?! I opened it hurriedly and read it.

**Meet me back here tonight at 7:00. Come alone**.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to those of you reading!

KeeperOfDreams93-thanks for reviewing so much already!

TooLazyToLogIn-Thanks! I tried my best to make the story continue as Patterson may have. The story will get more complex as it goes.

Lily- I'm definitely a FAX fan. But I don't hate Dylan. I think he had a lot of potential, but didn't see it in _**Angel**_

* * *

**oooOOOOOooo**

**Meet me back here tonight at 7:00. Come alone**.

Short and to the point. He didn't even sign it. Was that meeting this morning just to get me this note? Really, he could have said what he said on the cliffs in a letter. He intended for Jeb to know anyway. Why else would he go to all the trouble? It was the only way he could get a message to me without anyone else knowing about it. I needed an excuse to leave that night. A visit with my mother was the only thing I could come up with that wouldn't seem suspicious. Meeting Fang was all I could think about, but I had to get through my day like nothing was up. I didn't know what to expect. He was so distant earlier.

At about 4:30, I announced that I was going to go have dinner with my mom and Ella. Nobody even questioned me. When I got to the cliffs, before seven, Fang was already there, sitting on the edge, his feet dangling over it. I sat down next to him, just out of reach. It felt like a canyon between us. I waited for him to speak first.

"Anyone know you're here?" he asked.

"I told them I was going to see my mom. She'll cover for me, no questions asked, if I need her to," I said. "Why all the secrecy?"

"I want Jeb to think he's in the loop. I don't trust him any more than you do." He turned to me. "Max, I found the lab they used to make the new kids. Most of the lab is legit. Aids research, agricultural advancement, vaccines for Malaria. Things that really will help people in Africa and other places. The mad scientist part of it was abandoned, but a lot of stuff is still there. I broke in and started pulling information from the files." He had a far away look in his dark eyes. "Remember when we found the pictures and information on the computer? How it turned our stomachs? This was worse. The stuff they did to people, the lives they created, the agony-it was just recorded in logs like it was no big deal."

I waited for him to continue. Trying not to push it. I knew he must have needed to get it off his chest and I was glad he chose me to talk to. I moved a little closer to hear his voice. He had gotten so quiet.

"I found some stuff abut us too," he went on. "Do you have any idea how many 'mistakes' they made before they got us? How many others died for their curiosity?"

I couldn't even guess.

"More than two thousand, over decades. That's how many living, breathing souls. They died excruciating deaths or were butchered for not being perfect." He shuddered. "They had pictures, too." He shook his head, as if trying to shake the images out of his head.

"That's why we're so valuable to them. I read that the gene grafting is compatible with a small portion of the population. It's hit or miss. And they don't know if it's a hit until they try it."

"They turned to cloning when they found a few who were compatible. They cloned the original Dylan nine times before they were satisfied with the one we know. But they accelerated his growth while he was in stasis in the lab or he'd only be a toddler now."

"So why not just clone the six of us over and over again?" I asked. Though, the thought was super creepy.

"Because the world needs genetic diversity," he said. I was totally impressed with his use of big words, even if I didn't understand everything he was talking about. I must have had a blank look on my face, because he went on to explain.

"It's like, why you can't marry your brother or sister. If we all had the same genes, diseases could wipe out everyone. Six of us isn't enough to start a race. Especially because Angel and Gazzy are already brother and sister."

The wheels in my head finally started turning. "Dr. Good-and-Fruity's plan is to replace the human race with us? Or people like us? What about the people in Africa? The ones he was shooting up with special talents. He did it to himself even! I thought that was his goal."

"Those people all died. When they closed up shop, they couldn't get their shots. Their bodies reacted badly to the affects of the drugs he gave them."

I thought about Dylan and his special healing spit. He seemed okay. I guessed because he was already mutated and has a super immune system. I also thought of the little girl, Jeanne, we met in Africa. She was gone and it was so sad and so wrong. Fang had been keeping this to himself for months. A heavy burden to bear.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? I would have gone with you to the lab." I asked and put my hand on his shoulder.

He dipped his shoulder out of my reach. "I tried. I came to the house at night a few times, hoping I could catch you alone." His voice cracked a little. "But you never were."

"Oh," was all I could manage. He'd seen me and Dylan in my room.

"He was always there. In your room. Sleeping next to you." He didn't look at me. But there was a hint of anger in his voice.

"Fang, listen, let me explain," I started.

"Explain what? I practically gift wrapped you for him! I can't blame you."

"But you don't understand," then I realized what he said. "What do you mean gift wrapped? Like I don't have a mind of my own?" That wasn't where I wanted to go with that. Me and my stupid pride. I wanted to explain. Explain that when he saw us sleeping, it was just that-only sleeping. I knew what he thought it was more and I didn't want him thinking that. "I only wanted to say-."

He waved me off. "I really don't want to hear about you and Pretty Boy right now."

I let it go. It killed me to do so, though. We sat in silence for a while and watched the sun set. It was gorgeous. Pinks, purples, even a little green over the canyons. I turned to comment but stopped myself. I just wanted to look at him. Under his trademark black t-shirt, his body seemed more muscular. Training with the new flock was keeping him in exceptional shape. He was wearing his hair a little longer. It still had that 'just woke up' look, all shiny and black. He had sideburns now, too. They made him look older. And the fuzz on his upper lip was replaced by freshly shaved skin.

I wondered where he had been all day. Far as I could tell, there was no place to freshen up in here. No shaving kit, or any other supplies, for that matter. Anyway, in the fading light, he was a vision in black. I sighed regretfully.

"You hungry?" I asked. I figured we'd stewed long enough. "My treat."

He smiled, "Did you really have to ask?"

"I want to fill you in on what the flock's been doing. You won't believe what the Gasman has been up to. And Iggy's learning guitar."

We found a pizza place and ordered an extra large Sicilian pie with sausage. The guy at the counter laughed and asked if we wanted a take out box when the pizza came out. Obviously, he didn't know us very well.

I filled Fang in on everyone's antics. Except Jeb and Dylan a.k.a. Pretty Boy, of course. We talked about old times and all the crazy stuff we'd been through. I felt like I had my best friend back. We laughed so hard, Coke was coming out of my nose. Which made us laugh even harder. I reminded him that it had been well over a year since our last big birthday bash and that now we were at least one year older. Sixteen, almost seventeen maybe. We really needed to keep track of this stuff. We polished off the entire pizza, much to the surprise of the owner, and the place was closing up. I knew it was going to be time to go our separate ways soon. It was going to be so hard to say goodbye, again. But we were moving on, right? And our respective families would be expecting us home . . .

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Another message coming in Doctor," the tech said.

"Good, let's have it," he answered.

**I've been accepted into the group. Moving on to the new group soon. I will contact upon arrival**.

The doctor was pleased. Everything was going according to plan. Jeb Batchelder was still a wild card, but he could easily be taken care of if he didn't want to cooperate.

"I wish I had been able to monitor our subjects first hand all this time. They've probably developed new skills," the assistant sighed.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Dr. Gunther-Hagen yelled. "We'll have them back soon enough. You'll be able to study them all you want." He calmed himself down. "But at least it appears our two favorite subjects have finally joined forces. Did you see the piece on Entertainment Tonight?"

"CSM fluff piece," she muttered under her breath. Aloud, she said, "Yes. You're right. They did appear to be a couple." Who cares, she thought. They should concentrating their efforts of creating super _humans,_ not super part-human, part-animal, all freaks. She wanted to live when the apocalypse came. She wasn't particularly worried about her descendants.

"Can you imagine the being they could create together? That's the future. With my help, of course," the doctor glanced at his assistant. Dr. Graham was an attractive enough woman, he thought, brilliant too. He still hadn't decided if she would be an asset or hinderance to his cause. Like his problem at hand, she was headstrong and ambitious. He forced a smile that ended up looking insincere. "Our help, I mean."

"Once I isolate the desirable genes, we won't need them anymore. They've been nothing but trouble," she reminded him. She was frustrated that he never did get the part that they had minds of their own. If she could find the mutant DNA that was compatible with gene therapy in humans, she could take over the project. Get rid of those mutant freaks and concentrate on saving the people already here worth saving. To be decided by her, of course.

Still, the doctor was able to mold Dylan toward his own agenda, even with Max's resistance. She didn't think it would work, but the evidence she'd seen on television was compelling.

Dr. Gunther-Hagen interrupted her rambling thoughts. "But Dylan is nearly perfect. And like you said, I'm sure he's developed new skills by now. He could someday be the father of a new race. The dominant race on Earth."

"I thought the father of a new race was what _you_ wanted to be."

The doctor looked at his assistant, puzzled. "My dear, I'm going to be their God."

**oooOOOOOooo**

The night was dark and quiet. We stood in the middle of the room facing each other. The only light coming from the small bedside table lamp. He smoothed my hair back and cupped his hand behind my head. He leaned in and kissed me. His kisses were soft and sweet and passionate and hot all at once. We let our hands roam freely as we stood so close, we could feel each other's heart beat. Mine was beating so much faster than usual. I could feel myself getting swept away, lost in the moment. Before reality stepped in and ruined it, I said, "I'm ready now."

We were about to take our relationship another step. I wasn't one hundred percent sure I was ready, but I must have put on a good show because there we were. I stepped back and took his shirt by the hem and pulled it up over his head. Tossed aside, it landed on the lamp, casting a dark purplish glow over the room. It deepened the romantic mood I was already feeling. He touched the hem of my shirt, then hesitated. When I didn't protest, he pulled it up and over my head, letting it fall.

Things got fuzzy from there. I remember hungry kisses and bodies entwined. He touched me in places I've never been touched by anyone else. I remember there were a thousand different thoughts and feelings going through my brain at once: fear, pain, guilt, pleasure, love. In the middle of all the passion, he paused just long enough to look at me with those incredible eyes, and breathlessly whispered, "I love you Max." And everything made sense. I knew it was right. He loved me and I knew I loved him. The fear, pain and guilt fell away, leaving pleasure I never knew existed. And real love. As he squeezed my body closer to his and let out a long breathy moan, his wings suddenly snapped open. His beautiful obsidian wings.

I whispered back, "I love you too Fang."

Oh! My! God! That was amazing. I was still trying to catch my breath.

"Oh my God." Did I say that out loud? No, that was him.

We lay there for a while in his small, unassuming hotel room until our breathing slowed back to normal. He started talking first.

"That was. . .wow," he was almost speechless. "Was it . . .?"

"Amazing? Incredible? Beautiful? Un-freakin-believable?" I offered. "Yes."

He laughed. "Yeah, but I was going to ask if it was. . ." he stammered, "always like that . . . or was this . . . special. . ." he trailed off.

_Okay, I'll play, _I thought. "You want me to compare and contrast?"

He started brooding. "No. Forget I asked. I don't want to know," he said, and started to turn away.

I reached for his shoulder to stop him. "Good. 'Cause I've got nothing to compare this with."

"What?"

I shook my head 'no'. "I tried to tell you. Dylan and I never . . . what you saw, wasn't what you thought you saw."

I saw the understanding in his eyes. "You mean, oh my God, Max," he stammered again. "I thought . . . I never would have done this if I had known it was your first time. Did I hurt you?"

"It's okay. I heal fast," I joked.

He started brooding again, then caught himself. He took my hand in his and kissed it, noticing that I had the ring on again. His ring. He smiled.

"You didn't ask me if I'm okay. It was my first time too, you know," he said, trying to give me puppy dog eyes.

I contemplated what he said, then playfully punched his chest. "Jerk. You making fun of me?" I said and laughed. He laughed too.

Suddenly he stopped laughing and looked serious. He leaned in close.

"But it really was," his confession hung in the air.

I blinked. "Miranda?" I asked.

"Oh, she tried. Girl has arms like an octopus." He laughed a little, then looked away. "I was . . . lonely. But. . . we're just friends," he said as he looked back to me. "It's you. It's always been you. _Only_ you Max."

I about melted completely at that. Then I totally ruined the mood by saying, "We have to go see my mother."

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**I know the sex scene was a little vague. But this is only rated T :) Most of my other stories are M**


	6. Chapter 6

*** Sorry, this chapter is a little short. But it's important for moving the story forward. Thanks for reading!**

**disclaimer: James Patterson owns all rights to Maximum Ride, and gets all the money lol. I do take credit for any new characters that come up in this story line- and there will be many! This is what I wish happened instead of _ANGEL._**

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**oooOOOOOooo**

_This is so humiliating and embarrassing,_ was all I could think. I knew I should have been listening because any second my mom was going to ask-

"Are you listening to me? I thought you were more sensible than that." She stroked the side of my face. "You're _so_ young. I know in many ways you've grown up fast, but this could have waited."

"I know. We didn't mean for it to happen." At least not until we got to the hotel room he was holed up in during the day. That road was paved with all kinds of good intentions. My resolve weakened the minute I stepped through the door.

I really hated getting lectured but I had to suck it up, 'cause the part I was truly dreading was coming up. "And I probably wouldn't even be telling you about it. But we were . . ." I was searching for the right word, "unprepared."

"Aye! Max!" she raised her voice. "I thought I taught you better. Didn't you read those booklets I gave you?" She paced the floor a minute before she calmed down. Then she started muttering to herself. "What was he thinking? Why didn't he use them? Why bother getting them?" I just stood there, not knowing what to do.

What was she talking about? I stood in silence for fear of setting her off again. She sighed heavily.

"Well, it may not matter, if I'm correct in my assumption," she said. I must have looked completely confused, which I was. "I'm sorry. I've been sitting on some information that you need to know now. I thought it could wait until later. But in light of recent developments, I'd better tell you now. Jeb told me that Dylan came to him for advice and," she paused, "protection. So Jeb gave him some condoms."

"What?!" I yelled, not at her, but at Dylan-who wasn't there. Didn't do me a lot of good.

"He promised he would give you all the time you needed. Boys!" Her inner mother bear was coming out.

Just then, there was a light tapping at the sliding glass door. We could barely make out Fang's shadow. He'd been outside listening through an open window. I figured we didn't both need to get lectured. Mom went over and unlocked the door. Fang stepped over the threshold, walked over to me and grabbed my hand. Like a caveman, I might add. I knew he must have been angry, but he was calm and steady as usual.

"It wasn't Dylan. It was me," he said.

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Oh, well, that's a whole different story." I swear, she looked almost pleased.

Fang wasn't going to patiently wait for Mom to explain and started asking questions.

"What information do you have? And what assumption are you talking about? Why wouldn't it matter if Dylan and Max, um, got together?"

"Sit down, it's a long story." She didn't have to ask, but did anyway. "Are you hungry?"

We sat on stools at the breakfast bar munching on leftover nachos. She always had the best food. It was getting late so she put in a call to Jeb saying that I was spending the night. What a cool mom. I was grateful that I didn't have to go back.

**oooOOOOOooo**

While Fang and I ate, Mom started to tell us what she knew. She explained that it had occurred to the mad scientists that they didn't want us all running around being fruitful and multiplying without their permission. In all their wisdom, they tinkered with our systems even more. An infertile mutant was a good mutant. Hey, why not? They played with every other cell in our bodies. Until they could control us completely, they controlled what they could. After all, they didn't want another Jurassic Park on their hands.

"Is that why you said it didn't matter. Because none of us can have kids. Not the new cloned ones either?" I asked.

"Yes, but I can't assume. And it's not that they can't reproduce. They just can't on their own. Science would have to intervene."

Of course.

Before I could really start pondering a childless future, although I never thought I'd live long enough to see one anyway, Mom said there was more.

"I didn't tell you _when_ it occurred to the scientists to do this. It was after you two, and possibly Iggy, became viable lives. Have you ever wondered why everyone, Jeb, your Voice, and especially Dr. Gunther-Hagen, has tried so hard to keep you two apart? Tried to push you and Dylan together? And Fang away?"

"Yeah, to turn us into bird-kids that can heal themselves with spit," I answered sarcastically.

"Well, okay, that's part of it. He and others want you two apart because you're too dangerous together." Fang and I looked at each other, making tough faces, then giggling. "You have too much power. Together, you two have the power to do effortlessly, what it takes them years and teams of doctors to accomplish." I was literally on the edge of my seat.

"You can create another you," she said. "Now let's just hope you didn't do that tonight."

We put our heads together getting our stories straight. Mom thought it was best not to tell everyone about Fang and me-not even Jeb, surprisingly. Which meant the rest of the flock would have to wait for their reunion until we found Dr. G-H and shut him down permanently. Unfortunately, it also meant having to keep up appearances with Dylan.

"I don't think I can do that," I said. That's me, fly in the ointment. "I'm a tell-it-like-it-is kind of girl and he's a seeker-of-the-truth kind of guy. He'll know if I'm playing him."

"You have to try and go about your routine as much as possible. At least until we know it's safe for Fang and the others to come out of hiding."

I could see the expression on Fang's face remained calm. I wish I could be like him. If he didn't want you to know what he was thinking, you didn't.

"What if we gave him a little distraction?" I asked, thinking about the way he reacted to Miranda. "He seemed pretty smitten with your girlfriend."

Fang's face turned red. "She's not my girlfriend. I told you-"

Was that a little closer to home than he let on before? "Just kidding," I shrugged.

"But she is my friend and I don't want to put her in any danger."

"Better her than you," I didn't mean to say that out loud. My bad.

He shot me a look, "Jealous much?" he said, "What do you think, he's not going to notice a switch?"

"I don't know," I said, exasperated. "I need to think of something. I don't want to hurt him."

"Touching," he said flatly.

"I'm going to tell him-not everything. But I can't pretend, not now. That would only hurt all of us," I said firmly.

Fang and my mom protested giving away too much information. They weren't sure if Dylan could be totally trusted. Which, I thought was ironic coming from her, considering she trusted Jeb. They were both talking to me at the same time, but I'd already made up my mind. Fang wouldn't shut up, for once-so I decided to make him.

"Fine!" I yelled. "Have it your way! I'll just keep letting him sleep in my bed, rub my wings, stroke my hair, kiss my lips." I practically sang it, teasing him into a rage. His hands were clenched again and I could see that his jaw was set tightly.

Before his head exploded, I leaned closer and put my hand on his arm, trying to calm him. "I can't let him do those things any more than you want me to. Not now. It'll be better if I break things off. I won't tell him about you. Okay?"

After that, neither of them had much to say. Of course, there was much apologizing on my end, though. It was getting late. So late, it was almost morning. I went to sleep in Ella's room on the floor. How she never woke up was beyond me. Fang slept on the couch with the dog watching over him. My mom slept with her door wide open.

In the morning, it was hard to leave any of them.

"When will I see you again?" I asked Fang.

"I'll leave a note in your room. Now that you'll be alone, I might have a chance," he laughed.

He leaned down and kissed me goodbye. I didn't want it to be. How the heck was I going to keep myself together? We hugged for what seemed like an hour, then flew our separate ways.

**oooOOOOOooo**

I won't bore you with the gory details of the break up. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. I gave him a story about being confused since we saw Fang and Miranda, and that I didn't want to be distracted while we carried out our raid and capture of Dr. Frankenstein. I said that we had work to do, people to save, blah, blah, blah. Dylan didn't take it well. He took off flying on his own a lot. I was right about the seeker-of-the-truth part. He was constantly asking if there was more to it, if he did anything wrong, if there was anything he could do to change my mind. I really did feel bad for him. I did care.

Angel and Nudge kept questioning me. They couldn't understand why I just stopped wanting to be with Dylan. I wanted so badly to tell them about Fang. Instead, I told them they were simply too young to get it and that someday they would. Angel would sometimes give me sideways glances like she wanted to get in my head, but knew she shouldn't. I had to wonder if she got in once in a while and was piecing things together. Things were awkward for a while, but eventually, they got back to somewhat normal. Dylan wasn't the type to hold a grudge. Or at least, I didn't think so.

Jeb told me that 'his people' had a secure place to hold Dr. Gunther-Hagen and anyone who's with him. We were ready to move. He was just waiting on word from Fang.

**oooOOOOOooo**

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*** if you're new to this fic, please let me know what you think **


	7. Chapter 7

*** Sorry it took a while to get this updated. A LOT going on the past two weeks. Not all of it good. Thanks for reading!**

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**oooOOOOOooo**

**Entry # 20**

** We're going to meet Fang's other flock soon. I've gotten background information on all of them. Fang doesn't seem as bad as Dr. Hans said he was. But I guess he could be on his best behavior while he gets to know us. I wish I could talk about it with the rest of my flock. But the doctor gave me top secret orders. The sooner we get back to Dr. Gunther-Hagen, the sooner I get to my family. They're waiting for me. And I can forget all about this nightmare.**

**oooOOOOOooo**

Every night, I walked into my room, hoping to see a note. The night I found one, I could hardly contain myself. It had been only three weeks but it seemed longer than the whole previous year. The note said to meet him in a park a short flight away the next morning. I don't think I slept at all that night.

I got up early and forced myself to take time to eat breakfast even though the butterflies were scrambling up my insides. My plan was to make a quick exit before too many others were up. I hated making up things and lying to them. I only saw Ig and Gazzy up.

"I'm going for a fly," I said quickly and headed for the door.

"Where?" Dylan called from the back deck. Crud, I didn't notice him there.

"Just going to clear my head before I start my day," I said casually. I wondered if he was suspicious. Maybe I was being paranoid. "I won't be long."

"Okay," was all he said.

"Bring back donuts!" Gazzy yelled.

"You got it," I smiled. I would never remember that.

I flew around in circles for a while, scanning the area to make sure it was safe. Our new house had been safe for a while, but you never know. I landed in a tree and waited for Fang to show himself. If he was camouflaging himself, I would never spot him. Then I saw him standing at the edge of the tree line. I soared down toward him going a little too fast. My feet were barely touching the ground when I was just a few feet in front of him. Completely knocking him over and landing on him, I laughed hard. We lingered there on the grass, hugging and kissing-not really caring who saw us. I was so happy to see him.

We started to get up when I saw the look on his face. He had a cold look in his eyes. "We've got company," he said, not looking away from the object of his loathing.

I turned to see Dylan walking quickly toward us, hands clenched in fists. Crap! I walked toward him to intercept.

"Dylan," was all I got out. As we met, he punched out his arm at me, hitting me square in the chest and knocking me down. It was so hard and so fast, I didn't see it coming. And it knocked the wind out of me. I knew he wasn't trying to hurt me. If he had, I would have been toast. He just wanted me out of the way so I couldn't stop him from getting at Fang.

When Fang saw what he did to me, his rage flew into hyperdrive and he ran at Dylan. I wasn't sure who landed the first punch, but when they met-well, Clash of the Titans would have been an understatement. Punches and kicks were flying so fast and furiously, I truly thought, at the end, one of them would be dead. I had to get in there and stop them.

I took off and came back at them low and quick aiming for them. As I approached, I realized I had to get them at the same time. I kicked my legs out in front of me with all my might. Which is considerable. My feet connected with such force, they both fell off their feet in different directions. I quickly landed and got between them before they could get up again.

"STOP!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was my hands clenched this time. "What are you fighting for?!" I yelled.

Out of breath, we all stayed where we were. It wasn't really a rhetorical question, but I guess I wasn't expecting an answer either. Fang and Dylan were still staring each other down like two starved dogs that came across a ribeye. Blood was dripping from Dylan's nose and Fang's lip was busted. They both had black eyes. Fang was rubbing his shoulder where I kicked him.

I finally calmed down enough to speak. "Dylan, I'm sorry. I care about you. I really do. But Fang and I chose each other a long time ago. And nothing is ever going to tear us apart again." He was upset, but kept remarkably cool. He relaxed a bit and nodded in understanding.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," I said.

Fang got to his feet. "But he hurt you," he said and took step toward Dylan. This time I saw it coming and intercepted. Dylan stood up too.

"Enough. I'm fine," I said.

Fang stood a little straighter, making himself look more intimidating. Even more than usual, that is. He reached forward and put a hand on my hip, still staring Dylan down. Even though he was a couple of inches shorter than Dylan, the pecking order had been established. Of course, I was still Alpha dog.

I gently moved Fang's hand aside. No need to rub it in. "It's time. Get your flock together and meet us up at the house. Be careful." I wanted to kiss him goodbye, but a side glance at Dylan made me reconsider.

**oooOOOOOooo**

By the time we got back to the house, Dylan's nose stopped bleeding and his black eye was only slightly greenish. Man, he does heal fast, I thought. At least we wouldn't have to explain his injuries right away.

Dylan stormed into the house and into his room.

"Hey, where are the donuts?" the Gasman asked.

"Oops, sorry." I knew I wasn't going to remember that.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to give everyone a heads up or surprise them with our new arrivals. I decided to hold a 'better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission' policy.

After grabbing a bite or two, I went to the roof to wait for Fang, Miranda and-I realized that I didn't know the other's names. I didn't know anything about them except their ages and whether they were boys or girls. I wondered how my gang would react. Would they think it was great to have more kids like us? O r would they resist their counterparts?

Movement caught my eye and I turned to see it. The most amazing sight. The six of them flying in formation. They were so beautiful. I wondered if that's what we looked like. No wonder people were so fascinated. I waved my hand toward a clearing in the woods where I wanted them to land. I took off to meet them. I was nervous and excited and scared. What if they didn't like us? What if we didn't like them? What if they turned out to be evil after all? Too many ifs.

I landed and greeted Miranda politely. I wasn't sure how I was going to get used to see her/my face all the time. Maybe she could get plastic surgery or something. Lord knows we knew enough doctors to do it! I just smiled at Fang. He came over and took my hand to lead me to the rest of them.

"This is Max," he told them. "She's my, um," he looked at me self-consciously, "girlfriend. And she's our leader."

Some of them giggled. The smallest boy asked, "A girl? You let a girl be the leader?" More giggles.

"Hmm. I wish I'd know that before. I would have put my hat into the ring," the dark girl said. She was about my age, but a little shorter. Her skin was darker than Nudge's and her eyes were a light grey. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail of cascading ringlets. She hadn't folded her wings in yet and they were a dark chocolate brown with tan speckles on the smaller feathers. She was simply gorgeous. _Too bad Iggy won't be able to see her_, I thought. Nice plan, doctors.

"This is Danielle," Fang said. "She's the organizer of the group. Actually, she would make a good leader that way." He smirked. "Just kidding."

He walked me to the other girl in the group. She looked at me apprehensively.

"This is, well, we call her Birdie. No one gave her a name, they called her bird girl. Danielle shortened it to Birdie 'cause she thought it sounded cute," he explained. "She's really shy." He leaned over and whispered. "She was created somewhere else. She was experimented on excessively before she came to us."

Birdie reminded me of Fang. Big, dark eyes and hair, with pale skin and broody look about her. It made me want to put my arms around her and tell her she was safe with us.

"You're too pretty to have a plain name like Birdie. We'll come up with a new one you like." She gave just a hint of a smile.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Ten," she replied. "Well, I'm supposed to be ten but I've only been around for five years."

I knelt down to her level. "Where were you all that time?" I asked.

She looked down at the ground, then up at Fang. It was clear she didn't know if she should answer and she looked to him for guidance. He must have been a good leader. I decided not to press it and stood up.

The two boys left were like Birdie's polar opposites. Everything about them was light-their coloring, their humor, their spirits.

"I'm John," said the smaller of the two. His almost white hair was cropped short and spiked up and his bright blue eyes sparkled. He had an easy smile that made me smile. I liked him immediately. "I'm eleven, sort of. I wish they made me older, though. I hate being younger. Everyone tells me what to do." He'll get along great with Angel, I thought. "Wanna see a trick?" he asked me.

I looked at Fang. "Should I be afraid?" I laughed.

"No, it's cool," he said. "But brace yourself."

I didn't know what he meant until I felt it. Holy Cow! I was being lifted up, though only a couple inches. It was a strange sensation. More like being repelled by the ground than lifted exactly. Kind of like when the wrong ends of magnets face each other. My first reaction was to spread my wings for balance. I wanted to fly but I was stuck in place. I started to panic, flapping my wings wildly

"Let her go!" Fang yelled. John was smiling proudly. His looks were as deceiving as Angel's. Those two were going to be trouble. Why did all the little ones get the cool powers? I wanted to yell at him, but figured I'd better stay on his good side for now.

"Well, that could come in handy," I said with a smile. "But remember, we all have special things we can do." I let my smile drop. Let him wonder about that for a while.

The other boy came up to me. "Big deal. I can do that too. What can you do?"

I ignored his question and asked him, "And what's your name?"

"Jump."

I raised my eyebrows.

"He likes to drive, so he learned how to jump-start cars without a cable. Likes to steal them, too," Fang explained.

"Drive? Why would you need to drive when you can fly?" Although, we'd driven out of desperation at times ourselves.

"You wouldn't understand. It's a guy thing," Jump said. I shrugged. I didn't get it.

"Aren't you too young to drive anyway?" I asked.

He stood a little straighter. "I'm like fifteen. Probably close to sixteen," he said proudly.

"Really? You sure?" I put my hand on his head and ruffled his hair. He was a good three inches shorter than me. His hair was soft, thick and wavy. His green eyes scowled at me. I guess he didn't like that I was implying he was short. As mean as he was trying to look, I couldn't help to smile at the sprinkling of light freckles across the bridge of his nose. _Tough guys don't have freckles_, I thought to myself. They're dark and dangerous looking-like Fang.

"Well, if we ever need a car, you'll be the first one I'll call."

Fang had given his flock some background information about ours. But I hadn't even mentioned that Fang was back, much less that he was bringing five others with him. Nervous about how they'd react, it was now or never. I grabbed Fang's hand and started to lead him to the house.

I stopped and turned, "You just going to stand there?" I asked the others. "But don't come in until we tell you."

**oooOOOOOooo**

I opened the door and looked around to see where everyone was. Good, they were all together in the kitchen and living room, eating and watching t.v.

"Hey guys!" I yelled. "I have a surprise for you."

"Donuts?" Gazzy asked.

I opened the door all the way, revealing Fang. When they saw him, Angel, Nudge, and the Gasman all rushed him. Jeb and Dylan hung back.

Iggy cocked his head, "Fang?" Even he hugged Fang-in a manly way, of course.

I thought Angel would never let him go. "Where have you been? We missed you so much!" She still had a hold of his hand.

"Dude, wait 'til you see how good I've gotten at _Call of Duty 5_," Gazzy said.

"Can't wait," Fang said, messing up Gazzy's hair. "Is that all you've been doing since I've been gone?"

"Looks like you've been working out while you were away," Jeb noticed.

"Uh, yeah," Nudge said as she squeezed his bicep. "Nice," she laughed. I think Fang actually blushed.

"Glad to have you back," Iggy said. He hesitated, "You are back, right?" Fang nodded.

"Oh, sorry. I'm nodding _yes_."

"Then tonight I'm making lasagna!"

"Better make extra," Fang said and went to the door and opened it. He motioned for the others to come in. One by one they walked in nervously. I noticed my gang backing up as they watched in amazement, their jaws dropped about as far as I've ever seen.

The two groups regarded each other curiously. Nudge was the first to approach them. She walked up to Danielle and gently touched her arm.

"You're like me," she whispered. Nudge always felt a little different from the rest of us. It never thought it bothered her. It never bothered us. She touched Danielle's hair. Surprisingly, Danielle let her. "How do you get it so smooth?" Nudge was mesmerized. "You're beautiful."

Danielle laughed, "So are you."

The Gasman spoke up next. "Anyone else notice the evil twin in the room?" talking about Miranda.

"She's not my twin," I said. "She's my clone. And I don't _think_she's evil."

"But I can be wicked," she said and glanced over at Dylan-who was already staring at her. Here we go again! Miranda walked over to Iggy and eyed him up and down. "You're kind of cute. You could be my personal guide around here," she said as she tried to smooth his bed hair down. Dylan stood up and took a step toward them, then stopped himself.

"Just knowing you're Max's clone," Iggy started, "that's close enough for me. No thanks." He turned toward me. "No offense, Max, but you're like my sister."

"None taken and back at ya," I said. Then, thinking about it, "Except a brother."

"Your loss," Miranda said. "Anyway, Danielle is for you. I guess I'll stick with you, Dylan. Since you're free now." She walked to him and linked her arm around his. He never took his eyes off her.

"What's she talking about?" Iggy asked, addressing Fang.

"Nothing," Fang said. "That's not why we're here M."

"I know," she said. "I just thought as long as we are, we may as well enjoy it."

Silence.

"Eeew," Gazzy spoke up, the wheels in his head turning as he realized we all matched up in pairs. "Are we all supposed to start kissing or something?"

"No!" I yelled. "Okay, these guys came from the same place as Dylan. They made one for each of us, to lead our own flocks someday, but that doesn't mean anything. That was the scientists' plan. We do things our way."

Jeb finally decided to speak up. "There's nothing wrong with companionship, Max." I glared at him. He addressed everyone, "But Max is right. What's important is that now there are twelve of you. You can do twice as much good. Whatever the original intention, the new flock is here and you can help each other."

There was an awkward silence as we all looked around at each other, considering the revelation. I smiled. Then laughed out loud. They were mostly paired up as opposites.

"What's so funny?" Fang sounded irritated.

"Well, just look at them. Except for Angel and John, they're all black and white. A regular melting pot." I said, still giggling. I guess I was the only one who thought it was funny. No one else laughed.

"I want a cool name," John said out of nowhere.

"What?"

"You guys got to pick your own names. We're named after some other kids. I want a cool name, like Fang gave Jump," he pouted.

"So pick one," Jump said.

"You can't pick your own nickname. Someone has to give it to you," John said.

"Make up your mind," Jump muttered.

I felt a tug on my shirt. "You said I could have a pretty name, too," Birdie said quietly. I put my arm around her.

"We'll come up with new names for all of you if you want."

Angel and John stood staring at each other for a few minutes, then they both laughed. Angel said, "Okay."

It finally dawned on me that they were communicating telepathically. Great. Did I mention that I thought they were going to be trouble together? I wondered if he could get into our heads too.

Angel turned to me. "I think they're okay. I like them. Are they going to live here?"

I hadn't even thought that far ahead.

"Um, I guess we have to figure out how to fit all of us in this house. Jeb, looks like you're not staying here tonight. We need that room."


	8. Chapter 8

**oooOOOOOooo**

Jeb didn't look happy, but what was he going to do. Doing the math, I realized we would need three to a room. Ugh! The last thing I wanted to do was share my room. Hmm. Well, I guess it depended on with whom I was sharing. I had to force myself to focus.

As if reading my mind-which I'm not sure she wasn't-Angel said on cue, "For now, we could have a big sleep over in the living room. Then you could still keep your room, instead of sharing." I started to protest, but it wasn't a bad plan.

"Okay, for now. But we need a bigger place," I said. "Jeb, what can you do?' I figured he could take care of that. He was always saying he wanted to help. Here was his chance.

"Whatever you need, Max. I told you I'm here for you," Jeb said. I rolled my eyes. "The CSM will provide, I'm sure."

"Can I have my own room this time?" Angel asked.

"I don't think we're going to get a twelve bedroom house. Not one that will be easily hidden anyway. Some of will still be sharing. Sorry." She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

We sent Jeb out food shopping with Dylan and Danielle, so she could tell him what they liked to eat. Turns out, they never had to dumpster dive and were kind of picky, in my opinion. We were definitely going to need another fridge too. Iggy made his famous lasagna-with Danielle's help. Turns out she cooks too. I guess those whacky scientists knew more than I thought. Clean up was a snap with so many of us helping. I was starting to see that maybe joining up with Fang's flock wasn't so bad. At least, so far.

After dinner, it was time to see what they were made of-so to speak. I wanted to know what abilities everyone had for future tactical planning. I doubted anyone could make a bomb like Gazzy and Iggy, but I was sure they would have talents we could use.

We all went outside to check out their fighting skills. They still needed work, but Fang was doing a good job. The problem was, none of them ever had to actually fight for their lives, like we did. You learn super quick when your life is on the line.

John kept cheating by lifting his opponents off the ground. Nothing throws off your game like a little levitation. And he seemed to be able to avoid most of the hits coming his way. The new kids thought about what they were going to do too much and he could read their minds. I went up against him. Going totally on instinct, I could keep him from anticipating my moves. I accidentally gave him a black eye.

"Ow!" he screamed. "You didn't have to hit me so hard!" Tears came to his eyes. He looked hurt, and not just physically. His voice cracked, "You didn't have to hit me so hard," he repeated.

Oh my God! Was he crying? We never cried. Not even through broken ribs and slashed sides. Danielle and Birdie put their arms around him and glared at me.

"What, you guys don't hit each other during training?" I asked. "You need to learn how to take it, not just dish it out. When you're fighting someone who really wants to kill you, you can't stop to cry about it. You have to keep going or you'll be dead." I walked over to John. "I'm not trying to mean. I'm trying to save your life."

"What a drama queen," Miranda said. "We haven't seen any robots or erasers or any of the stuff Fang told us about. Maybe the threat is over."

"You think because you haven't seen them, they're not out there? It's never over. It will never be over. Do you think humans can't hurt you just as badly as an eraser? They just have different weapons. There will always be some nut job out there, wanting to take over us, or the world. For some reason, it's up to us to stop them," I said.

They didn't get it. They wouldn't get it until they faced it. I hoped it wouldn't be too late for some of them.

"John, your strategy worked, most of the time. But you need to prepare to fight and get beaten up. We've all broken bones, gotten black eyes and bruises and been bloodied up like you wouldn't believe. But we survived. I want to make sure you do too." I paused. "I'm sorry I hurt you." I don't think I ever apologized for hitting someone before. Jeez.

"Okay," he sniffed.

"I think that's enough for today," Fang said. "Let's go inside."

"And get a snack," Gazzy added

"How about popcorn?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah!"

"Uh, you want to help? Uh, Dani?" Iggy stammered.

"Sure," she said. "Dani. I like that. Maybe I'll go with that." Then she looked confused. "If you're blind, how did you know where I was?"

"I can kind of feel colors. You're darker than Nudge. Like, Nutella with a splash of peanut butter."

"Everything's about food." I said, rolling my eyes.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Everyone went inside to pick out their sleeping spots and snack. The whole house was filled with the buttery scent of popcorn. Yum. Gazzy and Jump started a video game tournament. Angel and Nudge gave up their room for Miranda. And Ig and the Gasman gave up theirs for Fang. It was so good to have him back. I looked around at my new family. _This could work_, I thought. I hoped.

**It will work, Max. Everything is falling into place**. Ah, my voice was back.

_Does that mean you've given up on me and Dylan together?_ I asked.

**For now. You've got other things to focus on.**

I didn't like the sound of that. But I'd worry about that later.

**Just be careful. They may not all be trustworthy.**

_Do you now something I don't? Why can't you ever just come right out and tell me?_

**Just be aware.**

Jeb insisted on staying to help supervise. I thought he just wanted to feel like he was part of it. Total and Akila wanted no part of the big sleepover and moved their beds into Dylan's room. But for the time being, they hung out on the couch with everyone. Birdie sat next to Total, scratching him behind the ears.

"I can't believe you have a talking, flying dog," she said. "He's so soft." Total was in his glory. "How does the other dog travel with you?"

"She and I take a plane or drive," Jeb answered. "Or, we stay behind."

"Do you ever wish you could fly?" Birdie asked him.

Surprisingly, Jeb answered, "Sometimes. It must be a wonderful feeling." He actually looked a little jealous.

I hadn't heard Birdie talk that much since she I met her. She asked more and more questions. Then everyone was asking about each other. We learned that only John and Jump could use telekinesis and only on lighter things, like us. I doubted they could lift an adult human. It could be helpful to throw a rock at someone though. Besides cooking, Dani liked painting. She didn't say she could do anything else 'special'. And as Fang said before, she was organized, like OCD organized. She must have had four different journals with her! She was making everyone in her flock keep a journal of their experiences, too. Except Fang, who already had his blog. I had already figured out that John was telepathic, like Angel. Birdie was the only one of them that had gills, so far. Over the last year, Iggy, Nudge and Gazzy had finally developed that skill. Much to Angel's delight.

While everyone else was busy getting to know each other, I caught Fang's eyes. I walked out the sliding door and flew up to the roof. He followed me up and sat down close to me.

"Finally." Before I could even finish the word, his lips were on mine. I could have melted right there in his arms. His lips were soft and warm and moist against mine. I ran my fingers through his thick, black hair. He smelled so good. Not like cologne or anything-just clean. His hands roamed up and down my back giving me shivers. I felt his hand move under my shirt along my spine and tug on my bra strap.

I had to force myself to pull away.

"I promised my Mom that we wouldn't, you know," I whispered.

"I didn't," he whispered back.

"Yes, you did," I giggled as he kissed my neck.

"Well, I didn't promise I wouldn't touch you," he said with a crooked smile. He ran a finger from the hollow of my neck down to my belly button. He leaned over and kissed me again, a little harder as he eased me back onto the roof, his hand still resting on my stomach. My fingers found their way back to his hair. His hand moved under my shirt so gently, I almost didn't notice until it was all the way up. I involuntarily held my breath. I was feeling lightheaded and out of control. He pressed his body against mine. This was going to be much harder to stop than I thought.

"Ahem," someone said. It wasn't one of us.

Like lightning, Fang's hand was out and we were sitting up, no doubt looking flustered. Dylan, Dani and Iggy were all standing there. Their mouths all open, but with differing expressions.

"Isn't someone going to say something?" Iggy asked.

Dani whispered to him, "Max and Fang were, um . . ."

Iggy interrupted, "I may not be able to see, but I have excellent hearing. TMI guys."

Dylan just said, "Jeb's trying to get everyone settled down in there. He's not doing a great job. You two should get in there."

I still couldn't meet his eyes. But I could feel them burning holes in me. Not literally. I hoped he couldn't do that, anyway.

We all started off the roof, while Dani hung back with me.

"You might want to hook that back up before you walk in," she said, and patted me on the back. I blushed. It was a small, somewhat intimate gesture on her part, but it gave me the feeling we could become friends. It's a girl thing. "So, if Iggy really can't see, how does he get around? How does he know where things are?"

"Actually, I'm not totally sure. I think it's like bats. He uses a kind of echolocation. As long as we don't switch the furniture around without telling him." I laughed. "It worked really well in the ocean. And he could see for real in Antarctica when everything was all white. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see."

"So he can't see what I look like, just my colors?" she asked.

"I guess. Why?"

"Just curious."

We got back inside. "All right," I said. "It's time for bed. We have to start getting back to routine. No more late nights and lazy days. We'll get up and train for two hours, then practice flying together." I thought about how the six of them looked in formation and tried to imagine twelve of us. That would be a picture.

Jeb insisted on sleeping on the couch. Though, I don't know why. He wasn't doing much good keeping everyone in line before. Angel and Nudge slept on the floor in the corner near the sliding glass door. They invited Birdie to join them. It was the first time I saw a real smile on her face. John, Jump and Gazzy took up the space behind the couch closest to the boys' hallway. I just hoped the Gasman didn't sneak any flammables back there. The other two seemed awfully interested in his explosive escapades. Both kinds. Iggy was on one side of the coffee table in front of Jeb and Dani was on the other. Miranda, Dylan, Fang and I each took a bedroom. Satisfied that everyone was down for the night (Jeb was already snoring), I went to bed.

After a couple of weeks of sleepovers, the need to find a new house became urgent. Everyone was always in each other's spaces. In a few days, we would be able to move. Fortunately, we didn't have much stuff to move. Just another week and a half in the living room . . .

**oooOOOOOooo**

Miranda, Dani, Jump, John and Birdie sat in a clearing near the house. It was the first time they had been together alone since joining the flock.

"What do you think so far?" John asked.

"It's loud," Jump said. "It's too much."

"I like them," Birdie offered. "They're really nice. Nudge does my hair."

"They're pretty much what Fang said they'd be like," Miranda said. "John, do you get any bad vibes from them? Have you heard anything that sounds like trouble?"

"I thought I wasn't supposed to be reading everybody's thoughts," he claimed.

"You're not supposed to read _our_ thoughts, nimrod," Jump said and rolled his eyes.

Miranda added, "No, it's not good to be spying on your friends, but we're still figuring out if they are our friends"

"I haven't heard anything. Well, not anything bad about us anyway. But one of them sure is crushin' on all the guys," he giggled. He glanced at Jump. "Well, not all the guys."

Miranda chided, "That's not the kind of stuff we need to know. Keep it to yourself. Dani, what do you think? You've been hanging out with the blind one a lot."

"Iggy. Yeah. He probably wouldn't want to be referred to as 'the blind one'. He's a mystery. He seems to know where stuff is better than us sometimes. I'm trying to figure out how he does that," Dani answered. "And Dylan is some kind of super freak. Even more than any of us. Do you want me to see what else I can find out about him?"

"No," Miranda smiled. "I'll take care of that. He's fun to tease. Such a straight lace."

"Angel's fun, too," Birdie commented. "She can do lot's of cool stuff. Did you know that she can change how she looks? And she can breathe under water, like me. And read minds. And someday she's going to be a great leader."

"Don't you think we should have told them all the stuff we can do?" Jump asked. "I feel kind of bad that we know all about them and we're keeping things from them."

"They might not be comfortable around us if they knew. It's just temporary," Miranda reminded him. "We won't keep secrets much longer."


	9. Chapter 9

*** Not sure why, but suddenly Fanfiction won't accept my .doc I had to copy and paste. I guess there's no difference, but it's annoying. Thanks to the _very_ few of you actually reading. I think Maximum Ride has worn out her welcome, especially since Katniss came on to the scene. I haven't read the new book. Anyone else?**

**oooOOOOOooo**

**Entry # 24**

**We've been with the new flock for a couple of weeks. Max is the leader of the them, but it seems to me that the little one, Angel has more actual power, though. She may be the key instead. **

**So far, everyone seems to have accepted us. Making a few close ties shouldn't be difficult. I have sent word to Dr. Gunther-Hagen that I have made contact.**

* * *

"What?" Iggy whispered.

Dani froze. She didn't say anything. Maybe he was just talking in his sleep. She watched him from the other side of the coffee table.

"Why are you staring at me?" he whispered.

"What?" she whispered back. "How do you know that? How do you do that?"

Just then they heard a small click of a door handle and pretended to be sleeping. Iggy could barely hear Fang's footsteps as he moved past the living room to Max's room. Then they both heard the almost inaudible click of her room's door handle.

Dani lifted her head to see if anyone else was awake. She turned toward Iggy.

"I think that must have been Fang," she whispered.

"Yeah, it was," he answered.

"How do you know? You couldn't see him."

"I could hear him. And I could tell which doors were opened"

"But how? I want to know."

Boy, she was persistent.

"It's like using The Force," he giggled.

"What's The Force?" she asked.

"You know, from Star Wars?" he questioned. When she didn't respond, he continued, "It's a movie. Star Wars. You've never seen it?"

"No," she replied. "We didn't watch too much t.v. Or go to the movies. What's The Force?"

"It's like-" he stopped talking when he heard Nudge roll over and mumble something in her sleep. He waited until he thought she was still sleeping before going on. He was struggling to describe it to someone who had absolutely no reference point. "Wait, I'll show you."

He very slowly got up and motioned her to follow. She worried that he would step on someone but he navigated through the sleeping bodies unerringly. She, however stepped on several blankets and a finger, she thought. When they got to his door, he pulled up on the handle and turned it. It opened silently.

"Hmm. I guess you sneak in and out of here a lot," Dani laughed.

Iggy turned Gazzy's lava lamp on for Dani. There were posters all over the room of people fighting with blue, green, purple or red sticks of light.

"Gazzy's Star Wars posters," he said. "Somewhere he has a book. It's got pictures and captions and it tells about the legends in Star Wars." He couldn't remember where Gazzy kept it. "Anyway, most of the people in the posters are good guys-Jedi- and they use The Force to guide them. One time, Luke had to fight a droid blind folded. He had to use The Force to figure out where the droid would strike." _What a freakin' geek I am_, he thought.

"Whatever you say," Dani said.

He decided to try a different strategy. "Haven't you ever just felt like someone was watching you? You could just feel it somehow? Or that someone was near you even though you couldn't see them?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But you do it all the time."

"Close your eyes a minute," he suggested.

He put his hand up in front of her face, then slowly moved it closer. In a couple of seconds, she swatted it away.

"What are you doing?" she asked, opening her eyes.

"How did you know my hand was there?" he asked her.

"I don't know. I guess I just kind of felt it. And I could sort of make out a shadow through my eyelids."

"That's kind of what I do. I've just been doing it so long I'm really good at it. And I've learned to see things by touching them, too. Like in the kitchen, the salt feels different from the pepper. Stuff like that."

"That's so cool," Dani said.

"Anybody could do it. You don't need to 'cause you can see."

Dani laughed, "I couldn't. I rely too much on seeing things. Especially when I'm painting."

"Sure you could. Well, maybe you wouldn't be able to tell what color things are, like me." He paused. "Close your eyes again."

He got a book off the shelf and placed it in her hand. "What is it?" he asked her.

"Well, that's easy. It's a book," she said proudly.

"What kind of book?"

"How am I supposed to tell that?" she asked.

"Feel it. Leaf through it. Smell it. Taste it if you have to."

"Eeew. I am _not_ tasting it." She started to feel the edge of the pages. "The pages are wavy."

"Think about why they might feel that way," he prodded.

She got serious and concentrated. "Maybe they got wet at some point."

"Good. Now open the book and feel the pages."

She leafed through and let her fingers run across the pages. She touched something bumpy. She wrinkled her nose.

"What is that?"

"You tell me," he offered no hints.

"It feels powdery, but hard and crunchy too. Something is dried on." She held the book up to her face and smelled it tentatively. She smiled, "I think I know what kind of book this is. It smells like vanilla. Is it a cook book?"

She opened her eyes to see that she was right.

"See, I told you you could do it. Now all you have to do is walk around with your eyes closed and practice," he laughed.

Dani's smile faded. "I'm sorry they did that to you," she said softly.

"It's okay. It makes me unique," he said, trying not to drag the conversation down. "I can still do most things I want anyway. Gazzy describes stuff for me, too. I used to be able to see so I can make pictures in my head."

"Is it weird not knowing what you look like? Or what your friends look like?" she asked. Iggy liked that she didn't try to pretend he didn't have a disability. She was a little forward, but most of these new kids were.

"Oh, I know what they look like-sort of. I remember some and I can use my hands to feel the shapes of things, anything, faces too, and make a kind of a picture in my mind. I guess the flock looks different from the last time I did that," he said.

"Do you want to know what I look like?" she asked

"Uh. Okay," he swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

He started at the top of her and moved his fingers around her hairline, the sides of her face and down her jaw line. He began describing what he was doing.

"I like to first figure out the shape of a person's face, then the features. It's easier to put it in perspective that way." He paused, "Close your eyes. I don't want to accidentally poke them."

He moved his fingers over her eyelids and across her eyebrows, down the length of her nose and over to her impossibly high cheekbones. When he touched her lips, he slowed down and traced them with one finger.

"Your lips are different than everyone else's, a different texture. They're a lot like Nudge's, but fuller."

"That's because I'm black silly."

"What do you mean? You're like Nutella, remember."

"I mean I'm African American. Mostly anyway. A different race than everyone else. Except Nudge. She's, like, half black," she explained.

"What's her other half? I thought she was like cinnamon toast."

She wasn't sure if he was making a joke or he really didn't know what she meant. "You know people come in different races and colors, right? The rest of you guys are all mostly white."

"Yeah, I guess so. But it doesn't really matter to me. We're all bird-kids. We're our own race," he smiled. "Whatever you are, you're beautiful." He had the feeling that he was pink right then.

She giggled, "Thanks."

Silence.

"Do you want to know what I look like?" Iggy asked.

"Um, I already do," Dani answered.

"No. I mean my way," he said.

She hesitated, then said, "Okay. What do I do?"

"Just close your eyes and do what I did."

She moved her hands around the frame of his face, then started back up at the top. Her fingers stopped on a small scar on his forehead.

"Is that a scar?" she asked.

"Uh huh," he answered.

"Where'd you get it?"

"I don't remember. I've had the snot beat out of me so many times I could never count. We heal up pretty well, but if we get a really deep wound, it leaves a little scar."

She frowned, "You guys have had it rough, huh."

"We survived," he shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. She couldn't imagine getting beaten up. And John cried when he got hit once.

She continued to move her hands down his face. Finding another small scar between his eye and eyebrow, she didn't say anything about it. When she touched his lip, she found another one.

She couldn't help herself, "Do you know how you got this one?"

He tensed a little at the memory. "Yeah, that one I remember," he said quietly. "It was after Jeb abandoned us. They kept sending new enemies for us to fight. The flying erasers caught us off guard. Especially Max's brother."

Dani took her hands off his face and opened her eyes. "Max has a brother," she asked. "Where is he? Why isn't he here?"

"He's dead. He tried to kill us more times than I can remember. He helped Max in the end, but it split us up for a while. It was the worst. Me, Fang and the Gasman left. We couldn't forgive and forget the way Max did. Ari had a built in expiration date and just keeled over one day."

"Oh, that's awful," Dani said.

"I guess I feel bad for him now. At the time I didn't. But it wasn't his fault. Jeb did it to him. Or let it happen."

Dani wasn't sure what to say. She was sorry she asked about his scars now.

"I didn't mean to make you think about such awful things," she finally said.

"It's okay. You didn't know."

She gently touched the scars again. "I didn't even notice them before. I guess looking isn't everything. Thank you for showing me a new way to see."

"Keep practicing," he said.

Her gazed lingered on the scar on his lip. "You must be really brave," she said. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. I can't say for sure if I'll answer it," he laughed.

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" she asked without embarrassment. He didn't know how she could be so bold.

"No," he swallowed. "I haven't met too many girls, as you can imagine." He was embarrassed that at sixteen or so, he had no real experience with girls other than the girls in the flock. And he considered them sisters.

"Me neither," she giggled. "I only know Fang, Jump and John. John is way too young and Jump is, well, he can be a jerk sometimes. And Fang is seriously taken." She quickly added, "Not that I like him or anything. He acts like he's our dad or something."

There was a long awkward silence before Dani finally spoke again. And when she did, she actually stammered for the first time.

"Can I . . . Would you mind . . .umm." She finally decided on, "Would it be okay if I kiss you?"

"Oh," she caught him completely by surprise. "Okaaay," he said slowly.

Dani leaned in close enough for Iggy to feel her warm breath on his face. She closed her eyes and then put her lips together. Iggy leaned the rest of the way to meet her and gently pressed his mouth on hers. It was about as innocent as you could get as far as kisses go. But Iggy thought it was fifteen seconds of heaven.

She glanced at the clock. It read two-thirteen.

"It's really getting late," she said.

"I guess we better go to bed or we won't be able to keep up in training," Iggy said. "You want to be on top?"

"Excuse me?"

"Bunk. You mind the top bunk?" he laughed. "I sleep on the bottom."

"Oh," she felt her ears getting warm, embarrassed by what she thought he meant at first. She climbed up the ladder and lay down. He waited for her to settle before turning off the lava lamp.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Iggy touched the scar on his lip.

* * *

Just before dawn, Iggy was awakened by the sound of the window being opened. Fang was not-so-stealthily climbing in. He came to a dead stop when he saw Iggy in his bed, propped up on one elbow.

"And where have you been all night?" he asked Fang.

Fang ignored the question and started to climb up to the top bunk.

"You can't sleep up there," said Iggy.

"Hi," Dani lifted her head and said with a smile.

Fang looked at Iggy, then at Dani, then back to Iggy and scowled.

"We'll be talking about this later. Throw me a pillow."

He took the pillow Iggy threw him and lay down on the floor. "Go back to sleep. We've got training in a couple hours."

**oooOOOOOooo**

**Entry # 25**

**Learning more and more about Max and the others. They all seem to have a lot more special abilities than us. Especially Angel. Even though he hasn't been training nearly as long, Dylan is the best fighter. Plus he can do things none of us can. I like them. They don't seem evil. I still can't tell who's side Jeb is on. He's always helping out and doing things for all of us. But Max and the others told us about the way he attacked them, supposedly to prepare them for saving the world. And they told us what he did to Max's brother. Max said her mother, Dr. Martinez, trusts him. I'm not sure how he'll play into all of this. I'll need to be prepared whether he's with us or against us.**

* * *

By seven a.m. The sun was streaming in through the window. Fang stretched and rubbed his neck.

"Iggy. Wake up," he said as he reached up and shook the bed.

Iggy yawned and hit the bunk above him. "You up Dani?" he asked. There was no answer.

"Dani?"

"She's not up here," Fang said as he looked up on the bunk. "Hey, what the heck was going on in here last night?"

"Seriously? You sneak out all night and you're questioning me?" Iggy said indignantly. "We were talking. About . . . Star Wars and other stuff." He ran his hands through his hair trying to get rid of the bed head.

"Fine. I'll use my imagination."

"Really. Nothing was going on. We really were talking about Star Wars part of the time. She wanted to know how I get around without being able to see. And I was joking about The Force and-didn't you even let them watch t.v?"

"You are such a dork," Fang laughed. "You get a girl in your room all night and that's all you do?"

"Well, not all of us have girls hanging all over us," Iggy snapped. "And not all girls sleep with every guy that knocks on her door." He immediately regretted saying that. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

Fang's fists were clenched. He realized that was probably what everyone was thinking about Max. Nobody knew just how hard it was for her to open up-how many times he showed her how he felt before she finally gave in.

"Not that it's any of your business, but that's all she and Dylan did-sleep. And we-well, there was only one time. She's not like that!" He was practically yelling.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Iggy tried to calm him down. "I really didn't mean that. You know I love Max. I wouldn't think anything bad about her. I was just mad because you were making fun of me." Then he paused. "So, you and Max? For real? Wow."

"Wow is right," Fang said with a goofy smile on his face.

Iggy put his hands up. "Please, I don't want to know."

"Yeah," Fang cleared his throat. "I shouldn't have teased you. Were you really just talking? All night?"

"She did kiss me," Iggy said sheepishly. "Just a little one."

Fang shoved Iggy's shoulder. "All right, Ig."

"For some reason, she seems to like hanging out with me. Go figure. She's cool. She has lots of hobbies, but no, like, super powers. Beyond our usual ones anyway."

"Sure she does," Fang said.

"Huh?"

"She seems to have the ability to see people for _who_ they are, not what they are," Fang said thoughtfully.


	10. Chapter 10

*** Finally getting to part of the reason I named this story Iggy. But still lots of FAX to come.**

**oooOOOOOooo**

As promised, training days lasted about two hours. Fang did a great job preparing the new kids-in theory. They were naturally quick and strong and they knew how to hit. They just didn't know how to get hit yet. Every time one of them got clocked, we had to stop and see if they were okay, if they needed ice. There was so much apologizing. But they were slowly getting better at it.

Except Miranda. She was tough from the start. Like me. Well, no one's as tough as me. Ha ha. She seemed to have it in for Dylan. I don't know what he did to deserve it, but she was taking it out on him. She fought him with everything she had, leaving bruises and a bloody lip. Miranda got as good as she gave, though. She walked away with a split lip and plenty of bruises of her own. Even so, Dylan must have gone easy on her. Lord knows he could have done a lot more damage.

As training broke up, Dylan started to walk back to the house. Before he could get too far, Jump blocked his way.

"What's your problem? Don't you know you're not supposed to hit girls like that?"

Dylan snapped back, "She started it. Out of my way." And he shoved Jump out of the way.

Suddenly, Dylan wasn't able to take a step. He glared at Jump. "Let me go!"

Miranda stepped in, "Dylan's right. I did start it. It's just training. We need to toughen up. He shouldn't have gone easy on me."

Dylan managed to take a step while Jump was distracted by Miranda.

"You better let me go now or I'll give you a bloody nose! You little jerk. You can't hold me forever!" Dylan yelled.

Fang started to intervene, but I held him back. I wanted to see how this was going to play out. We'd step in if we needed to, I figured.

I wondered how long Jump could hold him there. We all just stood and watched. Dylan's muscles struggled as he tried to free himself. Jump was shaking. I wasn't sure if he was scared or struggling to keep his hold on Dylan. Turns out it was a little of both. He finally lost his grip and Dylan started for him.

"Stop!" I yelled.

"He's got it coming!" Dylan yelled.

"I know. But you're a _lot_ bigger than him. Do you really want to do that?" I asked.

His knuckles were white.

He turned away from Jump and toward me. "So why is it everyone around here is allowed to make a fool out of me and it's okay?" He shot a brief look Miranda's way, too. Then without waiting for a response, he stormed off into the house, slamming the door shut behind him.

When I turned around, Jump was ghost white.

"Is he gonna get me when I don't expect it?"

I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "No. He was just trying to scare you," I said. "But that wasn't cool. I would save that talent for your enemies, not your friends." I took a few steps toward the house and without turning around, I said, "If you do that again, I won't stop him. And if you ever do that to me, I'll do worse than Dylan."

When I got back inside, I told Jeb to start making a supply list and take a few kids out of the house to shop. The people at Costco knew Jeb by name, even if it was a fake name. We were going stir crazy and with so many of us in the house, we were dangerously low on food. Dylan was on the back deck, obviously still angry.

"Is it okay to come out?" I asked.

"Why ask?" he said. "You're just going to do whatever you want anyway."

He knew me well.

"I couldn't let you beat him up," I said.

"I wasn't going to," he said. "You didn't even give me a chance. Did you really think I was going to hurt him? That's what you think of me?"

Okay, now I felt bad. I sighed, "Of course not. I told him you were just trying to scare him. But I saw the way you went after Fang."

"That was different and you know it."

"Okay," I agreed. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, except now they all think I'm some kind of homicidal hot head that's going to break their necks for looking at me cross-eyed."

"They don't think that," I tried to reassure him. "I'll make sure they don't think that. I know things have been hard for you lately."

I had to address the crack about everyone making a fool of him. Everyone meaning me. I guess I did wound his pride pretty badly. He'd be able to get over me easily enough, I was sure. But he was right, I made him look like a fool. Plus Miranda always making him goofy when she was around him. I thought maybe that was the issue between them. And now today's incident.

"So," I started. "You're still mad about the way things ended between us?"

"Things didn't end. You ended them. You didn't miss a beat jumping from me to him."

Ouch. But he didn't know the half of it. He thought it was three weeks between the break up and the reunion. He didn't need to know any more than that.

"Dylan, I really am sorry about all that. I thought we were getting past it. You're part of our family now." I meant it. "You're a great guy. A great friend. But I love Fang with all my heart. I think he's my destiny."

"Dr. Hans told me you were mine," he said.

"I don't think you can engineer destiny. They've been playing God with us all our lives. We should at least be able to find our own love," I said. "Besides, we're all young. Too young to settle down like that. Fang and me just happened. I wasn't looking for it. Believe me. It's caused a lot of problems the past couple of years."

He was still brooding. Or maybe he was just thinking about it. At least he wasn't angry any more.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll get over it."

"But will you forgive me?"

He looked up, surprised at the question.

"Of course," he said. "I already have."

"Will you forgive Fang?"

It took some time for him to answer. "I will, eventually."

Satisfied, I walked back into the bustling metropolis that was our house. We had to get out of here. We were all on top of each other and it was driving me crazy.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dani knew Dylan would be awake this early in the morning. He always was. She thought of a way to spend time to get to know him better. She knocked on his bedroom door.

"Come in," he called.

Dani opened the door and peeked in. "You got a minute?"

"Sure, you're up early, what do you want?"

"I was wondering if you would give me guitar lessons," she said. "Fang told me that you're teaching yourself and Iggy. Can you teach me too?"

"Yeah, you can join us next time we get together."

"No, I want it to be a surprise," Dani said. "Nudge and I want to do a song together the next time we all have song night."

"It'll take a while before you can play an actual song," he told her. "Maybe I can play and you girls sing. It could still be a surprise."

"Hmm. All right. But I'd still like to learn."

He took her hands and looked at them. "You're going to have to cut your nails. At least the ones on your left hand. You could let the ones on your right hand grow long."

She frowned. She was trying to grow them. "Do I have to?" she asked. "And won't that look stupid?"

He picked up his guitar and handed it to her. He placed her fingers on the strings and told her to press down hard.

"Ow," she complained.

"Yeah, you'll have to cut them. It'll be easier to play. It takes some getting used to and you'll get calluses on your fingertips."

She was beginning to reconsider. She thought it would be easier. But she was determined.

"All right. I'll cut them. When can we start lessons?" she eagerly asked.

"I'm always up early. You could come here a couple of mornings a week. Wanna start tomorrow?"

**oooooo**

A couple of weeks later, Dani was still having a hard time putting her fingers in the right spot.

"My hand's not big enough to go around. The guitar's too big for me. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be," Dani pouted.

"I'm sure girls with smaller hands than yours play guitar," Dylan said, rolling his eyes. "Try D again. It's not that hard."

She put her hand back on the neck and strummed.

"Now change to A," he suggested.

She tried. "I stink at it," Dani huffed.

"You're giving up too easily. I've never seen you give in before."

"I'm usually good at whatever I try," she laughed. "Or maybe I try only things I think I'll be good at." She leaned her chin on the guitar and looked at Dylan. "You seem to be good at everything."

He chuckled, "I was kind of engineered that way. To be, like, super human." He was a little embarrassed. "Besides the wings."

"You're a really good fighter," she said. "And you can play guitar. And sing. You're super smart, right? And cute, too."

He blushed.

"I can heal myself, too."

"Really? Can you heal other people?"

"I don't know. No one's let me spit on them," he laughed.

She laughed. Dani wasn't really sure if he was serious about having healing spit.

"Can I ask you something?" she changed the subject.

"Sure."

She wasn't quite certain how she wanted to word it. "Do boys like girls who are," she paused, "bold?"

"Bold? Bold how?" he asked.

"You know, making the first move. Asking him out or something. Or should a girl just wait for him?"

He thought about it. He wasn't sure he liked how bold Miranda was. But then, she was using her mojo on him to make him attracted to her. He definitely didn't like that. "Well, I don't know that I'm the best person to ask. I guess it depends on the guy. Some guys would like it." In that instant, Dylan wondered if she was going to make a pass at him. "Why?"

"I'm getting tired of waiting."

There was an awkward silence. Dani changed the subject again.

"You can see really far, can't you?"

"Yeah, a lot farther than everyone else. Sometimes I can see so far, it's almost like seeing into the future," he said, looking at her with his bright turquoise eyes.

"You can see the future?" she asked. "Can you see it when you want to? Or does it come to you by surprise." Her grey eyes riveted on his.

"It just comes to me sometimes," he said softly. "More and more lately." He studied her for a moment, as if he could see right inside her. "You can see like that too, can't you?"

She broke the gaze. "What, me? No. Not like you. I think I can see farther than the others, though." She shrugged it off. Dani wasn't able to look him in the eye again.

She looked down at the guitar. "Maybe I'll stick to singing and let you guys play." She handed it back to Dylan. "I guess I won't need lessons."

"Let me know when you and Nudge want to practice," he told her before she left his room. Pretty girl. He hoped she wasn't waiting for him, she'd be waiting a long time. He was hooked on Miranda's line already.

The rest of the day was training and eating. Eating and training. The new kids were taking hits better. Once they realized they healed quickly, they weren't as scared of getting hurt. The group was starting to come together. Getting to know each other. The younger girls were especially thick as thieves. Birdie finally picked a new name. She decided she didn't want to be only how she appeared. She was dark and broody looking, but she wanted to be happy and sunny. So, Sunny became her new name. Everybody liked it. So far, John was still John. It seemed to suit him and nobody had given him a nickname yet. That night, they all watched Star Wars-Iggy's pick, of course. Dani finally got what he was talking about.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dani was trying to spend time with all of the new kids. They were all trying to get to know each other better. But she found herself looking forward to being around Iggy most of all. She could talk about almost anything with him. He never seemed to be trying to impress her. She liked that about him. In the group, he was the sarcastic wit, the dry humor. But one on one, he was attentive and his geekiness was endearing.

They sat in the grass, talking, after walking to a field of wildflowers Dani spotted while flying around one day. They could have flown, but it was easier to have a conversation on the ground. As they talked, Dani sat close to him and made sure her hand or shoulder would brush his occasionally. He didn't seem to be taking the hint.

She sighed heavily out of frustration.

Maybe he wasn't interested. Maybe he was too shy. There was only one way to find out. She could ask him how he felt or she could just kiss him again. What was the worst that could happen? He'd say 'thanks, but no thanks' and she'd be a little embarrassed.

Then out of the blue, his lips were on hers. Caught unaware, she sat there, thinking, _how did he do that_? He couldn't see her and he didn't feel for her, yet he planted his mouth squarely on hers. She was momentarily startled. Her lack of response caused him to pull back and subtly put space between them.

"Uh, I'm sorry," he said, uncomfortably. "I thought you were flirting with me." His face reddened.

Dani practically pounced on him, pushing him on his back and pinning him down in the grass. She smashed her mouth on his and kissed him hard. Too hard. She was actually hurting him a little. Iggy rolled until she was on her back and he was leaning over her. He kissed her full lips softly and slowly until she relaxed. She could feel the small scar on his lip as he brushed his mouth against hers. Not quite kissing, but teasing, it made her yearn for more. They lay in the grass kissing, unaware of time, before breaking apart.

"Well, that ended up much better than it started off," she laughed.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna have a bruise," he smiled, touching his lip.

"Sorry," she said, self-consciously. "I guess I was a little too enthusiastic."

"Enthusiastic is good," he grinned.

"When you first kissed me, you caught me off guard. I didn't want you to think I wasn't interested."

"No, you were pretty clear," he said.

"So now what?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Am I going to be your girlfriend?"

He blushed. She sure wasn't shy. "Do you want to be?"

"Absolutely." She kissed him, gently this time. "But maybe we could be kind of quiet about it for a while. Jeb doesn't seem to be too keen on Max and Fang being together. I'd rather not be under the microscope, if you know what I mean."

"Me neither," he agreed. "But," he paused, "Fang already knows that I like you, and that we kissed in my room."

Dani smiled. "That's okay. Something tells me he's a good secret keeper. We should be getting back to the house. I think they expect us to make dinner again."

Holding hands, they walked home, grinning like a couple of Cheshire cats.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	11. Chapter 11

**oooOOOOOooo**

"We're all going out?" Sunny asked?

"You've been training very hard, and it's been suggested to me that you need a break. Dr. Martinez and I are going to take you to dinner and a movie," Jeb told her.

"All of us?" asked Angel.

"Whoever wants to go. Do you want to go?" he asked her.

"Yes!"

"Me too!" yelled Gazzy and John.

Valencia put her hands up to calm them. "Okay, let's see who's going."

Only Sunny, John, the Gasman and Angel wanted to go. The others were all too happy to have both the grown-ups and the little ones out of the house.

"Nudge? Are you sure you don't want to come with us? Jump?"

Jump shook his head. "I don't really like to be in crowds."

"No thanks, I just got some new magazines. I'll hang out here. I can be the chaperone," Nudge suggested.

"Excellent idea, Nudge," Dr. Martinez said. Then she lowered her voice, "All the doors stay open."

Nudge giggled, "Aye, aye." She saluted.

Calling to the others, Jeb said, "We have to get going if we're going to make the movie on time!"

Gazzy complained, "Do we have to drive? It takes so long."

"Well, until Jeb and I learn to fly, that's the way we'll be traveling together," Dr. Martinez explained. "Can we bring back some food for you guys?" she called to the older kids.

"No thanks, Dr. M. We're going to cook for ourselves. And we're maybe going to play some board games and watch a movie," Iggy said in his most well mannered voice. He wasn't fooling her, though. She knew they were anything but well mannered. But she could trust Nudge to keep an eye on them.

"Okay," she answered. She reminded Nudge, "All doors stay open."

Angel wanted Italian. The rest of them wanted burgers. Curiously, they ended up eating tortellini and ravioli. They sat in the back of an outdated movie house and watched an incredibly annoying animated movie about talking animals. Jeb kept his eyes on the exits the whole time, nervous about taking the kids out after all. When nothing suspicious happened half way through the film, he finally started to relax.

"Are you having second thoughts about this?" Valencia whispered.

"Yes. No. I'm trying to relax," Jeb said.

She rested her hand on his arm. "Which is bothering you more, taking these kids out or leaving the other ones at home? Alone." She smiled, "Don't worry, I put Nudge in charge."

Jeb and Valencia sat two rows behind Angel, Sunny, John and Gazzy. For an hour and forty-seven minutes, they were just kids having a great time at the movies with their friends.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"That was awesome chili, guys!" Jump said cheerfully.

"Uh, thanks," Iggy said.

The other six of us just stared at him for a second. We hadn't seen him in such a good mood in a long time. He usually stayed off by himself or in a small group, come to think of it. But tonight, he was positively chipper. It was nice, the eight of us having dinner together, playing grown-up.

We cleaned up-for a change, and put in a scary movie. Well, I'm sure it must have been scary to someone. After some of the stuff we'd seen, vampires and werewolves were nothing. Still, it was entertaining enough. Nudge was lying on her belly on the floor in front of the t.v. propped up on her elbows. Dani was piled up on top of a bunch of pillows next to the lazy boy Iggy was sitting in. Fang and I sat on the couch next to Jump. I noticed that Miranda and Dylan stayed at the breakfast bar talking. At least they weren't fighting. I still wasn't sure exactly what that was all about.

So, Fang thought he was so slick, yawning and putting his arm around me fifteen minutes into the movie. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. I saw him glance up toward the kitchen, then raise his eyebrows in surprise. I turned to see what he saw. I'm sure my eyebrows went up too. Dylan and Miranda had their heads together, close enough to touch. They were reading something, but seemed more interested in each other. What a turnaround.

I turned back to Fang, who was grinning at me. "That's a good sign," he said. He kissed my neck. Then my lips. We kissed until I felt someone was watching us. We broke apart and I leaned forward to look around Fang. Jump was staring at us awkwardly.

"Can you do that somewhere else?" he asked. He looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry," I said. I looked in the kitchen but Dylan and Miranda were gone. They'd gone outside on the deck.

Fang whispered, "Let's go to your room." And we quietly got up.

"Your mom said the doors have to stay open," Nudge said. Fang glared at her.

"Why'd we let her stay?" he asked.

"Sshhh," Nudge said. "I'm trying to watch this."

Iggy stood up. "Okay. I've heard enough of this movie. Dani, wanna go to my room and . . ." he cleared his throat, "um, read?" Dani got up and took his hand. "I'd rather make out, but if you want to read, that's cool."

"Close your mouth, Max," he said.

WTH? Have I been that unobservant? Since when were they together? Were they together, together?

Again, Nudge felt the need to say, "Keep the doors open. Dr. Martinez said so."

"What about them?" I pointed to the deck.

"It's glass. I can see them. And be quiet, I'm trying to watch the movie!"

Fang and I walked to my room, leaving the door wide open, of course. It was just like one of those scary teen flicks where the ones paired off in dark corners get killed.

**oooOOOOOooo**

I quietly padded out to the kitchen for food. My plan was to grab something quick and take it back to my room. Before I even reached the fridge, Dylan came into the kitchen with the same idea.

"Things seem better between you two," I said, nodding in Miranda's direction.

"Yeah, we've been talking a lot."

"Right. Talking."

"It's complicated," he chuckled. "Do you think the pudding's ready?"

"Ask Iggy," I said.

"You ask," he said. "I'm not going in his room."

"Chicken," I laughed.

Right on cue, a shirtless Iggy came into the kitchen, "It should be ready by now. What's that noise?" He scratched at his disheveled hair.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him close. "How long has this been going on?"

"What do you mean? I made the pudding two hours ago," he said with a straight face. He turned his head slightly. "Do you hear that?"

Fang came up behind me and tugged on my arm. "Max."

"Iggy," I said, annoyed. "You know what I'm taking about."

He grinned, "I don't 'read' and tell."

"Max," Fang tugged again.

"What!" I yelled impatiently.

"Should that be happening?" he motioned over to the couch.

I stood there with my mouth hanging open in surprise. I'd been doing that a lot lately. More than a few eyebrows went up at the sight of Nudge and Jump getting cozy on the couch.

"Nudge!" I yelled.

"I thought I heard kissy noises," Iggy said, unfazed.

Jump and Nudge stopped and looked up. More confused than guilty. She pushed Jump off her.

"What're you doing? Get off me!" she yelled.

"What are _you_ doing?" I asked her.

Nudge pointed at Jump from the opposite end of the couch. "I don't know. Ask him. He did something to me."

"I'll kill him," Fang growled and grabbed Jump's shirt.

"No, not like that. He hypnotized me or something."

"Said the chaperone who got caught sucking face on the couch," Iggy laughed.

"I was not sucking face!" Nudge yelled.

"Yeah, you kind of were, Nudge," I said quietly.

Jump was in a panic. Everyone was eyeing him angrily. "Miranda? I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. It was just too much. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Jump. It'll be all right," she said. She took Fang's hand away. Then to the rest of us, "He's an empath."

"And?" Fang asked. As if what she said explained it all.

"He senses other people's emotions. And if they're strong enough, he feels them as his own. There must have been too much, um, lovin', going on around here for his little system. It just had to come out."

"I'll bet," Fang said, sarcastically.

"Remember when we had that epic fight before we came here, Fang? And Jump got up and shoved John off his chair for no reason," Miranda said.

Fang laughed, "Yeah, that was pretty funny. I mean, it wasn't funny at the time. But it's funny now."

"It wasn't for no reason. That was because he got caught up in our fight. He was angry, too. He just didn't know why. It had to come out. It really isn't his fault. Did you touch her?" she asked Jump. "If he touches someone, he can pass on the emotions," she explained to us.

"She touched me. She thought I was sick."

"I felt his forehead. He looked like he had a fever," Nudge said.

No good deed . . .

Jump still looked scared that everyone was mad at him. I really thought he was going to cry. Miranda gently swept Jump's hair out of his eyes. "I should have left the house. I usually leave the house or go to a different room."

Dani added her two cents, "You're right, you should have. I thought you didn't even like each other."

"We don't," Nudge said emphatically.

Miranda said, "It's possible it may have happened no matter who Jump was with. Don't take it personally, Nudge."

"Good thing we didn't keep the Gasman home," I giggled.

No one could keep a straight face. Okay, that was kind of cruel. Jump was fuming.

"Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure you called me Fang at one point," Nudge joked. We all giggled again. Except Fang.

"Shut up!" Jump practically growled. "Besides, I am sure you called me _Iggy_." His turn to laugh.

Nudge scowled at him. It almost covered up her blush as I saw her glance Iggy's way. "Did not!" she yelled.

Unfortunately, Jump didn't back down. "Oh yes you did. Over and over," he teased. "Oh, Iggy." He looked smug. He'd had the last laugh. Except no one else was laughing.

So it was no real surprise when I saw Nudge's fingers curl into a fist and give him sock on the jaw. He deserved that. He took it a little too far. He blinked furiously trying to keep the tears away. Nudge got up, stormed off to her room and slammed the door.

"Well, that was fun and exciting," I said. "Why didn't you tell us Jump could do that?" I asked Miranda. "We really shouldn't be keeping things like that a secret. Are there other things he can do that you're not telling us?"

"No."

I wasn't sure I believed her.

"I'll be more careful from now on. I've been careful so far. No one even knew. And I don't tell what I feel. I promise," Jump pleaded.

I wasn't sure how to deal with this. "Okay. Try not to worry about it." I tried to sound reassuring, but it was a little creepy knowing there could be another one of them in my head. "Next time, tell someone or leave the room or something. And you might want to apologize to Nudge."

Dylan sat with Jump on the couch while Dani fluffed up her pillows on the floor and lay down. Fang and Iggy decided to call it a night before Jeb and the others came home. Miranda went in to talk to Nudge. And I decide to eat some of the leftover chili.

Laughter from outside floated up in through the window.

"We're back," Gazzy sang as he walked in.

"How was it?" Dylan asked enthusiastically.

"It was great! It was _so_ nice to eat in a real restaurant. We haven't done that in so long," Angel said.

"Did you bring home a doggy bag?" Total asked.

Sunny opened a bag and put a container on the counter, then another. "We've got pasta primavera and shrimp scampi."

"I'll take the primavera," Total said. "I don't want garlic breath."

"Can I have some scampi?" Jump asked. "No one's gonna care about my breath," he said and gave a half-hearted laughed.

"You're not sleeping next to me then," John said.


	12. Chapter 12

**oooOOOOOooo**

**Entry # 27**

** Making progress. I'm finding out more and more about their abilities. I really like them. I can't believe they're bad. I've been able to block John's telepathy, but struggling to keep Angel out of my thoughts. If she finds out, it will be over and I'll never see my family. I've sent Dr. Gunther-Hagen another message. We'll be coming to him soon. But I'm a little worried. I've heard some things about him from the flock. They said he almost killed Fang and poisoned their water. I'm not sure what to believe. He was so nice to me.**

******oooOOOOOooo**

Nudge found Jump sitting alone on the back deck. "Miranda said I should let you say what you need to say." She didn't even want to look at him. She took up a chair and gazed up at the sky, watching the few birds circle their prey.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I never should have said any of that."

"Sorry for what, specifically? Sorry for not telling us you are an empath? For letting me touch you, knowing what would happen? For reading my emotions? For using them against me? What are you really sorry for?" she questioned.

He was a little taken aback. He had more to apologize for than he thought. "All of it, I guess."

"You guess? I'm outta here," she said and started to get up.

"Wait. You're right. I did everything wrong. I didn't want to tell anyone about me being empathic. It makes me uncomfortable. And obviously, it makes you guys all uncomfortable, too."

"Well, we know Angel and John can read our thoughts. At least they're not hiding it," Nudge pointed out.

"That's different. You can usually tell if they're in your head, can't you? You can stop thinking what you're thinking. It's a lot harder to hide your feelings. Especially if you have feelings you don't want."

"I guess. But that's not an excuse. You should have been up front. Now nobody's going to trust you," she said.

"I know," he sighed. He hesitated. "Why don't you guys like me?" She started to open her mouth to deny it. "Even before this happened, you didn't like me. You and Gazzy especially."

Nudge didn't know what to say. She knew that he had sensed it. How honest should she be? Would he know if she was lying anyway?

"Well," she started, "I wouldn't say we don't like you so much as we haven't given you a chance for us to like you." Did that even make sense? She didn't want to be mean.

"You don't have to sugar coat it. I can take it."

"Fine. You pick fights, you're not very social, half the time you say things that don't even make sense and you're moody." _Non-sugar coated enough?_ She thought.

"Oh. Wow. Can I defend myself?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sometimes I take on somebody else's mood. I can usually snap out of it, but it might take a while. I'm happy a lot of the time too. You just don't seem to notice. And when I feel overwhelmed, I go off by myself. It's easier. That must make me seem like I don't want to be around everyone. I do though."

Nudge didn't say anything, so he continued. "Actually, I haven't been able to do this for very long and I still can't control it. I can block it sometimes, but it takes a lot of concentration."

Thinking about what other reasons Nudge had for disliking him, he laughed. "Miranda says I say things out of the blue, too, without knowing it. She thinks it's some of the stuff that other people are thinking. I'm telepathic, but only with Angel and John. Maybe it's getting stronger."

"So, what, you have telepathic Turrets?" Nudge asked. Jump's smile dropped. "I was trying to be funny. Not so much?"

"It was kind of funny. And don't worry. I'm usually very good about not telling what I feel. I won't tell your secret," he tried to reassure her.

"What secret?"

"You know, about Iggy."

"You misinterpreted that. He's like my brother," she said quickly.

His eyebrows went up. "Really. Are you sure?"

"Don't do that! Do try to 'read' me."

"I'm not. I'm just asking if you're sure. 'Cause that wasn't the first time I felt that from you," he admitted. "I swear, I won't tell anyone."

She wanted to be mad, but then decided she may as well talk. Confession was good for the soul. She walked to the railing and kept her eyes on the view off the deck. "It's disturbing, to tell you the truth. Even though we're not related, he's been like a brother to me my whole life. That's how I've always thought of him. But it was only the six of us, before Dylan and you guys. And I guess since Max and Fang got together, I figured I'd eventually end up with Iggy, like, by default. Now that we're a little older, I can't help but notice he's not a gawky kid any more, walking around without a shirt half the time. Is that warped, or what?"

"Not as warped as leaving Angel and Gazzy together. Aren't they real brother and sister?" He paused. "Eeeewwww."

"Guess in my world, they were out of luck," she laughed. "But what normal boy is going to want a girl that's taller than him, can kick his butt _and_ has wings?"

"You forgot to mention: can attract metal, hack a computer like nobody's business and breathe underwater," he laughed.

She couldn't help smiling, "Oh yeah, that all makes me sound much more appealing."

"In our alternate universe, it does. Who wants normal anyway. Normal is boring."

She turned around and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. The freakier, the better." She looked at him and noticed for the first time the large purple and green bruise on his jaw. "Sorry about that," she pointed.

"I deserved it," Jump said. "We square?"

Nudge got up to leave. "Yeah, okay."

**oooOOOOOooo**

"I'm so tired of sneaking around," Fang said, silently closing my bedroom door. We sat cross-legged on the bed.

"I just sleep better, hearing you breathe at night. Once Jeb leaves, nobody else will care," I said. "It's kind of funny how he sleeps out there to 'keep an eye' on us, but you get past him all the time."

Most nights Fang would come to my room to sleep. We'd been keeping our promise to my mom. Gosh darn angels we were. Mostly. I thought I wanted a room all to myself, but I always slept better with someone with me. I didn't tell Fang, but I kind of envied everyone out in the living room, sleeping together they way we used to when we were on the run. It felt safer.

"I've been thinking," Fang said. "When we move. Maybe we should just share a room."

"What? Oh that will go over well."

"No point in taking up two rooms if I'm going to be in yours anyway." He was being so logical. He picked up my left hand and kissed it. "Wasn't this on your other hand before?" he said, wriggling my ring.

"Oh, yeah. I moved it when I broke those two fingers on my right hand. I'll put it back," I said, realizing the way it looked on that hand.

"No, that's okay, you don't have to," he smiled. "In fact, I'd like to get you a new one."

I covered it up as if he was going to take it away. "I love this ring. It's perfect. It was the best birthday present I ever got."

"Okay, but I still want to get you another one. Maybe to wear next to it."

Okay, I was relatively thick, I'll admit. I didn't know what he was getting at.

He took both of my hands in his and pressed them under his chin. "I love you, Max. I always will. But we don't know how much time we really have. And I don't want to waste any more of it. You're my best friend, my first and only love. You're the toughest, most beautiful girl in the world."

Dang, he had a way with words when he wanted to.

"I want to fight beside you every day and sleep beside you every night. For as long as we have together."

Or, so long as we both shall live? My heart was pounding practically right out of my chest. What was he saying?

"What I'm saying is, I want to marry you." There, he said it. I was ready to pass out. "Will you marry me?"

I just sat there with my mouth hanging open. Did I mention before that I'd been doing that a lot lately? My throat closed up, I couldn't breathe. I wanted to fly out the window. This was my worst panic attack in the making.

I looked into his eyes. Was he serious? His eyes usually gave little away. Or nothing. But then I saw. For the first time ever, maybe. He was giving it all away. I had never seen him that vulnerable, that open. He was waiting patiently for me to say something. Anything. When I finally caught my breath and spoke . . .

"Yes."

Yes? Did I just say _yes_?!

It was totally impractical and un-doable. Jeb and my mom would _never_ agree. It was crazy.

I was crazy.

Crazy about him. And totally on cloud nine. Where, we literally could have gone.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Hi Dr. Martinez! Hi Ella!" the Gasman yelled.

"Hello, Gazzy," I heard my mom say.

I groaned. Not that I wasn't happy to see them. But I wasn't quite ready to face reality, just yet.

"You'd better get out of here," I said as I walked to open my window.

"Uh uh," Fang said, shaking his head. "I'm not hiding anymore."

"What?" I asked, panicking. I was really not ready to face _that_ reality.

He grabbed my hand and said, " C'mon."

Oh crap.

Jeb turned toward us as we walked out of my room together.

"So, you're not even going to try to hide it anymore?" He asked.

My mother sighed and looked a little dejected. The rest of the flock-all ten seemed nonplussed, but they paused to watch the show. With mind readers and Nudge's love of gossip, I guess it was never really a secret.

"Nope," was all Fang said. I tried to keep from smiling. Fang stared Jeb down for a bit, daring him to say anything else. He walked to the fridge and took out the milk. I noticed that he didn't look my mother in the eye. Ella's eyes darted back and forth, eagerly waiting to see what would happen next. Fang got out a bowl and box of cereal as everyone slowly went back to what they were doing. Angel went back to eating her bagel but a wide smile grew on her face as she looked up at me.

"By the way, we're out of coffee," Fang casually said between spoonfuls. "And Max and I are getting married."

Okay, that made everyone drop what they were doing. Except Angel, of course. They all started talking at once.

"What?!" "That's wonderful!" "Are you crazy?" "Can I do your hair for the wedding?" Guess who that was. And of course a couple of "No ways!"

Ella hugged me, "I'm so happy for you. I really like Fang."

"They are _not_ getting married," my mom said to her. Angel frowned.

"Yes. We are," Fang said insistently.

"You're too young," Jeb said.

In an unnervingly calm tone, Fang said, "Really? We're already living together. Already raising the flock like a family. Already saving the world. Just how old do we have to be to do those things?"

"It wouldn't be legal, anyway. You technically don't exist. Not according to the government," Jeb pointed out.

Fang put down his spoon and took Jeb forcibly out the sliders onto the deck. Fang had a couple of inches on Jeb by then. He closed the door behind them. I was just hoping he wasn't planning on throwing Jeb off.

Mom took her opportunity to drag me into my bedroom. I wasn't going to be able to hide behind Fang, now. I groaned for the second time that morning.

"Max, what's this all about? Why are you two doing this?"

"He asked. I said yes," I said, shrugging my shoulders. Case closed. She raised an eyebrow the way only a mother can. Was my answer not satisfactory?

I broke down. "I don't know. We got caught up in a moment. I don't know what made him say it."

"Is this something you want? Or something he wants?" she asked.

I sat down on my bed and picked at my fingernails. "At first I started to panic," I admitted. "But, he's right. We're already living on our own with a family. You know what we've been through. We've lived hard and fast for so long. We don't know when it's going to end. I want to live, the way people are supposed to live, before I die. I'm supposed to save the world. I just want to save some of it for myself, too. Is that too much to ask?"

She sat down and hugged me to herself. "Oh Max. I'm so sorry for all the weight that rests on your shoulders. You didn't ask for it. I know you want to feel normal sometimes."

I pulled away. "It's just a little piece of paper, a technicality really. Will you help us?"

"I'm not sure what I can do," she said. "You're underage, without legal guardians, or documentation." She sighed heavily, "Jeb is going to kill me."


	13. Chapter 13

*** Thanks to those of you actually reading this. Next chapter gets exciting. Sorry this one is so short**

**oooOOOOOooo**

"So here's what you're going to do. You're going to get everything we need to make this happen. You're going to make Max happy, for once."

"It's not that easy, Fang," Jeb said calmly. "I wasn't making excuses. The flock doesn't exist, legally."

"Then get us fake I.D.s, birth certificates, social security numbers. And make us eighteen while you're at it, so we don't need anyone's permission to get married." Fang thought for a second. "As a matter of fact, get all that stuff for the others too."

Jeb shook his head. "And what if I don't? You and Max shouldn't be together in the first place. You've done a great job leading your own flock. . . "

"Can it!" Fang hissed. "We already know why you don't want us together. And if you won't help us, we'll find someone who will. I'm sure we wouldn't have any trouble finding 'sponsors'. We could disappear and you'd never find us again. Forget about Max saving the world." Fang wasn't one to bluff and Jeb knew it. He also knew that any number of organizations would be too happy to step in, on behalf of their own agendas.

Checkmate. Jeb didn't have much of a choice. He could get whatever they needed. Fang knew it. Things had gotten out of control. He couldn't keep Max and Fang apart anymore. He had to keep the peace in order stay involved.

"All right," Jeb said reluctantly. "I'll do what you ask. It's going to take some time. Give me some time, will you?"

"That's up to Max," Fang said. "But you'd better not drag your feet about it."

"I'll get working on it after we move."

**oooOOOOOooo**

**Entry # 32**

** We're ready to make our raid on Dr. Gunther-Hagen. In four days. I have sent word to him. It's getting harder to think about hurting them. They don't seem dangerous, the way Dr. Hans said. I like them all. Hiding my skills is getting harder too. It's impossible to keep up the wall all the time. I've left myself open too many times. I'm getting close to some of them. Too close. I know what I'm supposed to do. But I'm so confused. I'm just trying to focus on getting to have a normal life. Soon. I wish I didn't have to hurt any of them.**

"Max, don't you trust me anymore?" Nudge asked, worried.

"Of course. With my life. Why would you ask that?"

She looked down. "Then why am I not going to Dr. G-H's?"

"It's not because I don't trust you. I don't think we need everybody on this one. There are already seven of us, plus Jeb going." I didn't want to tell her that I just wanted to keep her safe. "I need you here to be in charge while we're gone." I smiled, thinking that would make her feel needed and important.

"Uh-uh. We always fight together. I want to fight. I can help," she frowned. "Look, I've pulled up blue prints for the building." She spread the papers on the table. Pointing to one of the rooms, she said, "This is probably the hub. It's got more electrical conduits than the other rooms."

"Nudge, how did you get this?" I asked. She had an amazing knack for stuff like that.

"The government really does know everything. I just hacked into the records." She stood proudly. "Can I come, please?"

_**Are you sure you don't need her with you? Nudge has**_

_**proven herself time and again, Max.**_

_ Really, voice? You have to have a say in this too? _I thought.

"Okay Nudge. You're right. But it should be a piece of cake. I'm not sure how much fighting we'll have to do."

_Satisfied, voice?_

_ **I didn't suggest it for my own satisfaction, but your safety. You can't afford to be complacent or cocky.** _

"Wait. You said seven of you are already going? Is Jump going?" she pouted.

"He asked if he could go. I thought it would be a good experience for him," I said. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"No. I can handle it. We talked. It's fine," she said.

"You sure? After what happened."

"It's fine, I said," she snapped.

"Okay, okay. Just make sure you stay focused," I said. Jeez.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dani opened her eyes in the dark room. She was having a hard time staying asleep. The next day was the strike on Dr. Gunther-Hagen. For a moment she forgot where she was. She was still getting used to living with the new kids. Quietly, she got up to use the bathroom. On the way back to her spot on the living room floor, she decided she needed a snack. Nothing she wanted in the fridge. The freezer had-ooh mint chocolate chip. Dani got a big spoon and dug in. When she was satisfied, she put away the container and glanced down the hall toward Fang and Iggy's room. Iggy gave up the floor when he realized Fang was sneaking into Max's room every night.

Dani saw the soft glow of the lava lamp under the door. _Maybe he's awake_, she thought. Not that he would need the light on. She walked to the door and tapped her fingernail lightly on it. Again. No answer. She lifted up on the handle like she saw him do before and turned it. It was quiet. The lava lamp was on but Iggy was asleep on the bottom bunk. She turned it off and started to leave, then turned back around. He was curled up on his side with his back to the door. She had an impulse to lie down next to him. Just the thought of sleeping on the floor again made Dani's back hurt. Well, she wasn't one to fight her impulses, so she lay down as quietly as she could, trying not to move the bed. She put her back to him, her wings barely brushing his, and closed her eyes, thinking she was successful at not waking him.

Iggy half smiled to himself, then rolled to his other side and put his arm around her. He was going to get all kinds of grief from Fang over this. But he really didn't care. It was nice to have someone to hold. And she was so soft. Too bad nobody told her there was a reason he usually slept off on his own. He hoped he wouldn't kick her too hard.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	14. Chapter 14

*** You'll find out who the traitor is in this chapter, if you haven't already figured it out. I wasn't great at hiding it, as I've looked back at the story. Anyway, the flock is about to lose somebody . . .**

* * *

Jeb left early that morning in the Jeep to meet us at Dr. God's lair. I still wasn't sure if I trusted him. We were ready to go. I also wasn't sure I'd made the right decision to take Jump with us. He just didn't have enough experience. But his skills could be useful.

We approached the low red-brick building before dawn and ducked into the tree tops waiting until we saw Jeb's car. Fang and I scouted for the best place to break in and came up with a plan. I saw Jeb's car stop about a half mile down the road and motioned for everyone to go down to meet him.

He waited until he saw us before getting out. "Are you ready? We should get in there before too much activity begins."

"We're going in through that basement stairwell," I said pointing. "You should wait out here Jeb. You might get hurt." Not that I really cared. But I was already worrying about Jump. I didn't need the distraction.

"I'm not helpless, you know," he said. "I'm going."

"Fine. Whatever," I said. "Jump, if it gets bad, I want you to fly away. As fast as you can. And go back to the house."

Getting in was no problem. Nudge had pulled up schematics of the building and we made our way the most logical location of Dr. G-H's command post inside. It was quiet. Too quiet. We came to a door with a small rectangular window set with chicken wire. The kind you expect to find in a school. Or a prison. Peeking in, I could see our old friend at his computer.

_**Be careful, Max. If it's too easy, it could be a trap.**_

_Gee, thanks, Voice. I hadn't thought of that, _I thought, sarcastically. _Duh_.

"He's here. It looks like he's alone," I whispered. This was too easy.

"Ah, Max. Come in. Come in. I've been expecting you," Dr. Feel-Good said. "I'm glad to see you."

"The feeling is not mutual. We're taking you in and shutting you down. For good."

"I was hoping you've reconsidered. Remember my offer? It still stands," he reminded me. He was talking about his offer to give Iggy a new pair of eyes. I would have done almost anything for that.

"Jeb? How about you? Decided to join your brilliance with mine? We could do great things," Jeb stood silently. "No? No matter. You've already done what I needed you to do."

Jeb looked puzzled. "I haven't done anything for you."

"Really? Do you think it was a coincidence that you found the clones?" Gunther-Hagen asked. "You played right into my hands, giving them to Fang to teach. Surely, you must have expected that he would reunite with your flock. And in turn, deliver them all to me. Not exactly the way you planned, but nonetheless, here you all are. Mostly. Don't worry, we'll be collecting the rest of them shortly."

My heart skipped a beat. "We shouldn't have left them alone."

"Jeb, you can still share the glory with me. Your research and implementation has been extraordinary." He waited a few seconds, but got no response. "Fine. Have it your way. Well, that just leaves you Danielle," the doctor said. Everyone turned to look at her. "If you would be so kind as to take Max and Dylan back to the lab."

She hesitated. "What are you going to do with," she glanced at Iggy, "the rest of them?" she asked.

What? Why would she do that? This whole thing was a trap and we never saw it coming. Some trap. Eight against two? I was seriously missing something.

When Dani hesitated, the doctor continued, "You can keep the blind one too, if you must. I'll even throw in the new eyes."

"No. I don't want to hurt any of them. I did everything else you asked. Don't make me hurt them. Please," Dani pleaded.

"It's too late to change your mind now, Danielle. What's done is done. Bring Max and Dylan to my lab. Get rid of the others," Dr. G-H said.

"You promised to let me go. You promised me a normal life. I did what you wanted. Let me go home to my family," Dani begged.

"Do you mean Danielle's family? They grieved for her years ago. I'm afraid I may have exaggerated the possibility of that scenario. It would be too painful for them to go back now," he said coldly. "Besides, preliminary tests showed that mutation reversal is tenuous at best."

Mutation reversal? I was sure he made that one up on the spot.

Dani hung her head. "I did it for nothing." She couldn't look any of us in the eye.

"You disappoint me, Danielle. But don't worry, you'll still be of use to me. Dr. Burgess still has many theories to test." I thought I saw Jump make a move toward the doctor at that, but Miranda held him back.

Iggy looked heartbroken. She was playing us the whole time, ready to turn us in. I didn't know how she or the doctor thought she could take me down, especially when I had such awesome back-up. The doctor shook his head in disgust.

Dr. Good-and-Plenty sighed heavily, "Max, I'd rather have you join me willingly. I have what your friend so desperately wants ready and waiting. Wouldn't you love to give the gift that keeps on giving? I'll even let the rest of them go. Except Dylan. He's my pride and joy. But I'm confident that eventually, you'll bring the rest of them around."

I looked at Iggy. I knew he wanted to see more than anything.

"Iggy? I'll do it if you want me to. I'd do anything for you," I said. "You know I'll come out of it okay. I always do." I half smiled.

"This is a limited time offer," the doctor interrupted. "I've already pushed the silent alarm. Reinforcements are on their way."

The com-link on the desk hissed. A voice reported, "Director, the house has been blown up, sir. We haven't found any survivors yet." My heart sank.

Nudge gasped, "What house? _Our_ house?"

Scowling and ignoring the report, the doctor turned to Iggy again. "Wouldn't you like to see your beautiful girlfriend?"

Iggy faced me. In that dispassionate style of his, shrugging a shoulder, Iggy said, "Nah. I see just fine." Directing his attention toward Dani, his voice turned cold, "And she's not my girlfriend."

The windows suddenly blew in, glass shattering around us. Oh yay! Erasers and robot-thingies. Too many to count. And two big burly guys with automatic weapons. Only human, but just as deadly. We sprung into action, fists, fur and legs flying. Nudge put out her hands out and the weapons flew out of the goons' hands and into hers.

"Hey, look what I did!" she exclaimed.

"Focus, Nudge," I yelled.

Jeb took advantage of their temporary shock and gave one guy a karate chop to the throat, a few punches to the kidney and well placed kick to the groin. We're not above low blows. Whatever it takes. Glad to see that Jeb wouldn't need babysitting, I concentrated on kicking some eraser butt. Dylan knocked out the other guy with one punch. Fang gabbed one of the guns from Nudge and started shooting up the robots. I'd always resisted using guns, especially on living things. But I had to admit, they were most effective on those robot-thingies. Jeb snatched the other gun. He didn't have any problem mowing down erasers. Miranda and Jump held their own, ganging up on each target together. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that in the midst of the chaos, Iggy and Dani weren't moving. She was crying and he was just standing there, looking lost in his own thoughts. How they managed to avoid being attacked was beyond me. Until an eraser spotted Iggy and charged him.

"Iggy, look out!" I yelled, ironically.

Jump whirled around and spotted them. The eraser's large claw stalled inches from Iggy's face. Confused only for a second, Iggy punched the eraser in the throat, crushing his windpipe. He pummeled it until it was barely more than a pile of ground meat on the floor. I saw Jump collapse in the corner. He had been using all his strength to hold the eraser down.

Dr. Gunther-Hagen took advantage of the turmoil and tried to slink out through a small door at the back of the room. Unexpectedly, Dani lunged for him. They fell to the floor behind a computer desk and out of sight.

The last two remaining erasers escaped through the broken windows. Robots were all in itty bitty pieces scattered about. I couldn't see Dani and the doctor, but I knew they were still in the room. I could feel the hair on my arms raise up and feel a crackle of electricity in the air. We could all feel it. Miranda knelt down by Jump.

"Don't touch him," Jeb yelled. "Nobody touch anything!"

The smell of burning flesh began to fill the room. We put our hands to our noses to keep from gagging. Slowly, I walked behind the desk to see Dani pressing down on Dr. Gunther-Hagen's chest. His skin was starting to turn black. Eewww. She was electrocuting him.

"Dani, stop," I said quietly. "I think he's dead."

She released him and stood up. The electricity dissipated. That's how she was planning to take everyone out. None of us knew she could do that. Jeb told Miranda to see if Jump was okay. He was still passed out. We were all pretty beaten up and bloody, a few broken fingers, busted lips, bruises, scratches, and one broken nose-Dylan's, but nothing life threatening.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Dani cried, climbing out the window. She took off before any of us could stop her. Or, maybe no one was going to stop her, and she knew it. Either way, we couldn't worry about her.

Jeb used his walkie-talkie to call in the tech guys to pack up all the doctor's research and computers. He was worried that what Dani did may have affected the electrical equipment. I didn't care about any of that stuff right then. We had to get back to the house. I didn't want to believe it was gone, and the others with it. Jeb took Jump, who finally woke up, to the car and the rest of us flew as fast as our wings would take us.

Fang and I got to the house first. Or what was left of it anyway. It was true. It was almost completely obliterated. There were eraser bodies scattered and a multitude of broken robot pieces. I sank to the ground and covered my face. If there's anything that can make me sob, it's the thought of losing my flock. Thanks to Dani, the doctor knew the younger kids were left vulnerable at home.

Dylan, Miranda, Iggy and Nudge landed, the horror reflected in their faces. In uncharacteristic style, the six of us huddled together in a group hug. We heard a car pull up. It was way too soon to be Jeb.

"Max!" My mom yelled as she got out of the car. I broke the hug and ran to her. "Are you all okay? Where are the rest of you?" she asked.

"That was awesome!" Gazzy yelled as he jumped out of the car. "I wish you could have seen it! We annihilated them!"

Sunny, Angel and John got out and ran to us hugging us all, followed by Total and Akila. I had never been happier to see anyone in my life. This time, tears of joy.

"Oh the horror. The horror." Total, always the drama queen.

"What happened?" I asked. "How did you get out of there?"

Gazzy told us, "Dani saved us. Somehow she knew we should get away. She told me to build the best bomb I could and booby-trap the house. And I did! We waited up the mountain in the trees and watched until your mom took us to a safe house," he was still fired up about it. "Where is she? Where's Dani?"

"She didn't make it," was all Iggy said. "Let's leave it at that."

They all gasped.

There were questions on Mom's and the other kids faces, but nobody pressed it. We'd fill them in later.

"Jeb? Jump?" Mom asked.

"They're okay. They're driving back. Jump saved Iggy's life," I proudly informed everyone.

We all stood looking at the wreckage that was once our home. We lost everything. At least we had each other. Mostly.

Well, on the bright side, moving day just got a whole lot easier.

Moving day two days later consisted of us carrying backpacks into our new house. New square state, new mountains and cliffs, new pine trees. But it looked pretty much the same. Our good buddy Nino Pierpont donated one of his rustic hunting lodges in the name of a good cause. We agreed to perform a few public services and a private demonstration in return. I thought he had an interesting interpretation of rustic. Eight bedrooms, five bathrooms, eat in kitchen, dining room, living room, computer room, plus something called a great room. I wasn't sure what was so great about it. It was nice, but I don't know if I'd say great. That was where we were all supposed to hang out. It looked like a log cabin in the inside, all wood, with a few animal heads here and there on the walls. Some of them looked too much like erasers. They would be the first things to go. Two fireplaces made it a very cozy house, despite it size. We divvied up rooms and set up sleeping bags until we could get furniture. That made it seem a little more rustic.

Iggy and the Gasman stayed together, also John and Jump. Nudge really wanted her own room, and Angel decided to trying bunking with Sunny. Dylan and Miranda each took a room, and Fang and I picked one of the rooms upstairs to share. We left the last room next to ours free for 'guests'. Although, unofficially, it became Total and Akila's room. Jeb always had some excuse to horn in, so he'd use it occasionally. And now we were further from my mom's house, so sometimes she and Ella would stay over.

That first night, no one wanted to be separated, so we all grabbed our pillows and bags and slept together. Even Jeb and my mom and Ella. I found out what was so great about that big room after all. It kept the rest of us all together.

* * *

***Next chapter the flock discovers Dani's journal. And Dr. Gunther-Hagen is dead, but the flock's troubles are far from over . . . Stay tuned and thanks for reading!.**


	15. Chapter 15

*** Thanks for reading. Borntofly13, I don't have particular posting days for this story. It tends to average out to Fridays or Saturdays. But since you gave me such a nice review, I thought I'd post this next chapter already.**

* * *

"Max? What should we do with Dani's stuff?" Angel asked me. The kids had the presence of mind to pack backpacks for all of us before booby-trapping and leaving the house. They did a decent job picking out the most important things. They grabbed all of Dani's journals.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to read these now," I said and shrugged my shoulders. I picked one up and leafed through. It was all tactical training methods. Every time Fang showed her a new move, she wrote it down and drew diagrams. She was organized, I'll give her that. I picked up another one. It was numbered journal entries. I read the last two entries aloud.

**Entry # 33**

**Mission in two days. I don't know if I can do this anymore. They've all been so good to me and accepted me. I want to meet my family, but I really care about this new flock. We're supposed to go to the doctor's facility tomorrow. Jeb, Max, Fang, Dylan, Miranda, Nudge, Jump, Iggy and I are going. Maybe I can convince them not to go. But then they'll know something's wrong. The younger one's are staying here. They'll be vulnerable. I'll have to think of a way to get them to leave. This going to be so hard. I wasn't supposed to get too attached.**

**Entry # 34**

**I've decided not to help the doctor after all. I've done enough damage. After last night, there's no way I could betray him them any more.**

"Last night? Why? What happened that last night?"

I scanned the blank faces and shrugs, noticing Fang's subtle glance at Iggy, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Oh.

I read on.

**This will be my last entry. I'm not coming back. I will probably either die, be captured, or banished. I don't know which, but I have seen that I am not coming back here with the rest of them. I'll try to help them. And Dr. Hans will get captured. Maybe they won't find out that I've been spying all this time. They'll hate me. My hope is that someone will read this journal and understand why I was going to do what I was going to do.**

"I asked her if she could see like me. She denied it." Dylan revealed.

"Do you think that's what she meant? She could literally see the future. Literally see that she wasn't coming back?" I asked.

"I don't know. But I do know she could do more than she let on," he said.

"We should have told you about everything," Miranda suggested. "She said she was afraid you'd be intimidated if you found out she could conduct electricity. I didn't realize it was so strong. I guess she simply didn't want you to know so she could use it against you."

Which is why I never trust people. See, I'm not just paranoid.

"There's a letter at the end of her entries for us," I said.

"Read it to us, Max," Sunny sniffled.

Everyone stood around as I read the letter. Our emotions were a mixture of anger and sadness.

**Friends,**

**You probably will not think of me as a friend by the time you read this. By now, you know I was planning to betray you all. I was promised a new life, a normal life with a normal family, the real Danielle's family, before I was rescued. All I had to do was help the doctor capture some dangerous mutant experiments.**

**That was before I met you. The more time I spent with all of you, the more I liked you. And I liked being me, too. I was a mutant experiment too. I thought I could run away from that. It took me a long time to realize that you weren't the dangerous ones. I was. And so was the doctor.**

**I can only hope that when we get to the lab, you win. I hope you always win. I realized too late, you're the family I wanted all along. You're the best family anyone could ask for. I'm so sorry. I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me.**

**Dani**

"There's more, but it says it's just for Iggy. Maybe someone should read it to you in private."

"It doesn't matter," he said.

"I think it might. It's . . . personal," I said.

"Okay. You read it, Max."

I looked around at everyone and nodded for them to leave.

**P.S. This part is just for Iggy, even though I know someone will have to read it to him.**

**Spending time with you has been the best part of my life. You made me feel interesting and important and beautiful. I did my best to make you feel the same way. I think you're funny, brave and a great cook. I love the way your hair sticks up all the time, like you just woke up. (especially when you did) I love to watch you fly. I love to feel your arms around me. And I love your soft kisses. I think I could have loved everything about you. Please remember that. I will miss you most of all. It was all real for me.**

"Do you believe her?" he asked.

"I think it's more important if you believe her," I said. "But if it helps, yeah, I believe her. She made the right choice at the end."

"Yeah," was all he said. So I hugged him. And he let me, for a long time.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dylan appeared to be relaxing on the deck, enjoying the morning as he usually did, drinking coffee. I, on the other hand, probably looked like Heck from staying up too late and getting up too early. I couldn't help yawning over and over. I opened the French doors to our new, much bigger deck and sat down next to Dylan.

"What's the occasion?" he asked.

"I get up early to enjoy the sunrise. Sometimes." He laughed at me. "Okay, Fang was snoring and I couldn't fall back asleep."

"You seem intent on something," I smiled and sipped my heavily creamered coffee.

"We're being watched," he said, never taking his eyes off a target in the distance. I felt the blood drain from my face and I froze.

"Can you see who it is?" I said, barely moving my mouth. "I'll go and warn the others."

He put his hand on my arm to stop me from getting up.

"It's just Dani," he said.

"What? Where?" I looked but didn't see her.

"About ten or twelve miles out at one o'clock."

I still couldn't see her. "That's a little beyond my capabilities. Can you really see her? Do you think she can really see us?"

"I can see the Space Station, remember? And I suspected she could before. I just felt it. Like we could both see into the same future." He sipped his coffee. "Anyway, I felt like I was being watched earlier. I have a hunch it wasn't me she was hoping to see. Should we tell him?"

"No. Leave well enough alone. I'm not letting her anywhere near us again."

He paused. "She's gone." Dylan finally looked away from Dani's hiding spot and turned toward me. "It's been almost three months. Your anger doesn't seem to have lessened. Dr. Hans manipulated her. Fed her fears. I think almost everyone else understands and would forgive her. Considering she didn't go through with it and she lost everything."

"Forgive, maybe. But not forget. She was ready to turn me into Max-B-Q. All of us."

"But she didn't. She changed her mind and helped instead. You wouldn't give her another chance? And yet, Jeb's still here. And Angel."

"Angel?"

"Yes, Fang's 'death' was a direct result of her actions. Is Iggy's broken heart worth more than Fang's life?" I hated it when he pointed out my lack of logic. "We've all done what we thought we had to do, at one point or another. We've all made choices that hurt someone else." He looked me in the eyes. "And we've all forgiven each other for it."

I really hate it when people point out my hypocrisy.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"They can't have just disappeared!" Dr. Gunther-Hagen's former assistant screamed at her head of security. "Somebody must know where they are. They're still doing those stupid public service announcements! Find someone who knows where they are and get them to talk!"

Dr. Graham was frustrated by the Hans's arrogance in dealing with the mutants. He insisted that he had everything under control. She would never have let them just waltz into the facility they way they did. He left their research vulnerable. The former assistant, now head of research, was wise enough to back up her own work several times over. She had the information stashed in a number of places. But she needed Dr. Gunther-Hagen's work to fill in some of the gaps.

"I need Dr. Gunther-Hagen's data. I know that Batchelder idiot has it."

"He's out of the country right now." The head of security offered. "But, there's always Maximum Ride's mother. She's been used before."

"Unsuccessfully," the newly appointed head of research added. "That test subject is too violent to go against directly. I'm not interested in a skirmish or the doctor's 'toys'. But I need that research material. We'll use the mother as leverage if it comes to that. In the mean time, find Batchelder and keep him under surveillance. When he returns, he's got to lead us to the data. And keep watching Dr. Martinez. Sooner or later, she'll lead us to the subjects."

* * *

*** next chapter- Dr. Martinez gets a surprise visit that will change everyone's lives. **


	16. Chapter 16

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dr. Martinez pulled into the clinic, glancing in her rear view mirror. The black Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled in behind her and into its usual spot. As Valencia strode toward the Jeep, the driver window eased down.

"You don't have to stay, Robert. You can watch me go inside, then leave," she said. "I have a lot of people working today. I'm sure there won't be any trouble."

"Sorry doctor. Mr. Batchelder's instructions were very specific. We're to keep you under surveillance 24/7 while he's out of the country." The security officer told her.

Not that she was in a hurry to get kidnapped again, but she thought Jeb was being a little over the top in his precautions.

She sighed, "Well, we're ordering lunch out today. Can I get you something at least?"

"No thank you, ma'am."

Dr. Martinez walked into the clinic grabbing a chart on the reception desk as she walked by.

"How's Lucky this morning?" she asked Rita, sitting behind the desk. The assistant was wearing particularly cheery scrubs today, featuring cartoon cats and dogs with sunglasses.

"Living up to his name," she smiled. "He's responding well to the antibiotics. We had to put a cone on him to keep him from biting the cast, though."

Valencia checked charts and inquired after a few more patients before heading to her office. Rita called to her.

"Oh, I almost forgot. There's a girl waiting in your office. She didn't have an animal with her and she wouldn't say if she owned a patient here." She lowered her voice as she moved closer. "She's a little unkempt, kind of dirty, too. Seems like a lost soul."

Cautiously, Dr. Martinez opened her office door. She knew better than to walk in before scanning the entire room. Rita peered over her shoulder. Sitting with her back to the veterinarian was a girl with a dark tangle of curls, a light jacket pulled up tightly around her.

Slowly she turned her head.

"Dr. Martinez?" she said in a weak voice. "I need your help."

Rita whispered, "Should I call someone?"

Valencia put her hand up, "No, it's okay. I know her. Don't disturb us for a while, all right? Except for emergencies, of course."

Rita closed the door and went back to attend the front desk.

Max's mom walked to the window, peeked out and drew the curtain. "Does anybody know you're here, Dani?" She wasn't sure how to feel about seeing her. Dani was ready to give up Max and the flock to the latest evil doctor. But Valencia also knew how easy it was to be manipulated by powerful men. Dani was just a pawn in the ongoing struggle for world domination.

"No, I was careful." Her face was drawn, her eyes a dull grey.

Dr. Martinez put a hand gently on Dani's shoulder. "How have you been getting along all this time?"

"I've been doing odd jobs and living in homeless shelters. I've been getting by okay," Dani told her.

"Why are you here now? Has something happened?" Dr. Martinez's maternal instincts couldn't help kicking in. She wanted to help if she could.

"I'm running out of time," Dani started. She stood and removed her jacket. "And I'm _really_ scared." Fat tears fell on her burgeoning, round belly.

"Oh no. Who did this? Did this happen at one of the shelters?"

Dani opened her mouth to explain, but only cried instead. Dr. Martinez was puzzled at this miraculous condition that shouldn't be.

"Compatibility is an issue. I'll need to run some blood tests. I'm surprised your body hasn't already rejected . . ." Looking into Dani's wide, frightened eyes, she realized she was talking like a detached scientists rather than the comforting mother figure Dani was seeking. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that your blood shouldn't be compatible with human blood. I'm not sure how the embryo even thrived at all." She rubbed Dani's belly lightly. "It'll be all right, dear. What are you, about five months?"

"Almost eight," Dani answered.

"Eight? What? That can't be, you're too small. Are you positive?" Truth be told, Dr. Martinez had no idea what would be normal development for a pregnancy like this. There was absolutely no precedence. "I'll have to do an ultrasound to see what's happening."

Dani sat in the office waiting for Dr. Martinez to see patients and set up the ultrasound machine for her. She'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop. The doctor surely would have figured out by now that Dani got herself into this predicament before she left the flock. She would have a lot of questions and a lecture, too, probably. There was a knock on the door. Rita came in without waiting for an answer.

"I brought you a sandwich," she said with a smile. "Actually, I brought you three. Valencia said you were really hungry. And you look like you could use it."

"Thank you," Dani said. She tried her best to eat slowly, but she was starving and ate the first sandwich in under a minute. She picked up another sandwich.

"Did Valencia tell you that I would be taking you to her house later?"

"Yes, thank you." After the second sandwich, she was starting to feel better. Dani couldn't remember the last time she had her fill of food. Since Robert was still parked outside waiting to follow Dr. Martinez home, she would take him on a side trip to the grocery store before going home, to give Rita time to drive Dani to the vet's house unnoticed.

**oooOOOOOooo**

The gel was cold and sticky on Dani's belly. Dr. Martinez ran the transducer back and forth while carefully watching the monitor. Dani watched, too, but had no idea what she was looking at.

"This is literally the last thing I expected." Dr. Martinez said, shaking her head. Did no one follow her advice? Didn't any of them ever consider the consequences of their actions?

Quietly, Dani answered, "Me too."

"So," Dr. Martinez was finally asking the question, keeping her eyes on the screen. "Was it Iggy?" Her brow furrowed.

"Uh huh."

"Boys," Max's mom muttered under her breath, frowning.

"It wasn't his fault," Dani claimed. Valencia skeptically raised her eyebrows. "I went to his room. I, um, started it. Don't be mad at him." Dani put her hand on Dr. Martinez's arm. "Are you going to tell him?"

"I think you ought to. You need help." She looked at Dani. "I may have done some research back when Max and the others were created, but this new life needs people with experience. You should go back to the flock."

"What if they won't take me back? I wouldn't take me back."

"I don't think Iggy's going to have a choice. And Jeb can help. He raised Max from a baby. I didn't get the chance."

The machine suddenly caught a strumming sound that drew Valencia's attention. A steady, quicker than normal heartbeat was what she had been waiting for. She sighed with relief.

"Is that good?" Dani asked.

"Yes. That much I know. Look at the monitor, I'll see if I can point out any important body parts," she smiled.

The monitor was mostly black, except for the triangle shaped fuzzy, white image in the middle. Dani couldn't make out what she was seeing until Dr. Martinez used the pointer to show her what looked like an x-ray of a forearm.

"There's an arm sticking up. See the little fist curled up at the end? Already a fighter, eh?" she laughed.

More pointing. "And here's the head." She followed the contours of the profile of the face. Moving the cursor along the bottom, over a row of small white lines, she pointed out the spinal column.

Dr. Martinez continued raking the transducer back and forth until she had seen the entire body, occasionally showing Dani a foot or vital organ.

"Does it," Dani stuttered, "does it have wings?"

"It's hard to tell." She moved the cursor to the bottom of the screen. "This dark mass could be wings, here under the spinal column. But so far, he looks healthy, just a little small. You'll really have to increase your caloric intake for the next several weeks."

Dani blinked. "You said _he_?"

"Yes, he."

**oooOOOOOooo**

"I just got a weird call from my mom," I told Fang. "She wants to see me."

"Not so weird," he said.

"She wants me to bring you. And Iggy and Angel."

"Okay. Unusual, but not weird."

We saw the familiar black Jeep parked across the street as we walked through the back yard to the house. I was glad Jeb insisted on guarding Mom. Once in a while, he did something I approved of.

Once inside, there were the usual greetings, etcetera. But I knew this wasn't your average social call.

I cut to the chase, "What's up? Why did you want us here? You never asked me to bring Angel and Iggy before."

"I've got something to tell you." Mom said.

Mom approached Iggy, "Will you come with me?" She didn't wait for him to answer and led him toward Ella's room. She whispered something to him I couldn't hear and he went inside. Mom rejoined us in the kitchen where Ella was getting butter out of the fridge.

"Angel, want me to teach you how to make cookies?" Ella asked.

"I know you didn't bring us here to bake. What is going on?"

"The cookies are just a distraction. What I want to talk to you about is Dani. She came to see me at the clinic a couple of weeks ago."

"And."

"She needs your help," Mom said.

"She should have thought of that before she turned on us," I grumbled.

"Max," Fang chided. "You read the journal."

"So that's it? She made a mistake and you won't ever trust her again?" Mom asked.

"Mistake? A mistake would be putting ketchup on my hot dog instead of mustard. She was going to turn us into Kentucky fried flock. She betrayed us!" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Silently, Angel and Ella watched our conversation as Ella continued putting baking ingredients on the counter. I caught a look of remorse in Angel's eyes. She probably knew what my mother was thinking.

"There was a time when Angel did the same thing. She kicked you out of the flock. And she almost got Fang killed."

"Mom!" I couldn't believe she was bringing that up and throwing it in Angel's face.

"It's okay, Max. It's true. And I feel bad every time I think about it. But you forgave me, right?"

I hugged her to me, "Of course, I forgave you. You were young. You didn't mean for Fang to get hurt. You just made a mistake." Darn it! She got me. That was exactly the point my mother was trying to make and I fell right for it. My mom was much too good a person to rub it in. But the words hung there for a minute before anyone spoke.

"We all forgave you," Fang said as he put an arm around Angel. He probably had the most reason to hold a grudge.

"Fine. We'll help." I sulked. "But what about Iggy?" I asked, troubled by how he might feel about it.

"Iggy's over it," Iggy said as he walked down the hall. "I've got bigger issues." He was holding Dani's hand behind him as he led her into the living room. He looked permanently stunned.

"Whoa! What happened to you?" I said when I saw her. "Scratch that. I got it." Fang's and Angel's mouths were hanging open. Fang looked just a tad paler.

"Maybe now you kids will listen to me?" my mother said under her breath.

We all stood there awkwardly gawking at Dani's belly. She shifted on her feet anxiously. Iggy cleared his throat.

"You guys done yet?" Iggy asked.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to make you feel like the poster children for _Don't try this at home_." I tried to joke. Actually, there was nothing funny about this.

"This is no time for jokes, Max," Mom admonished me. "I've been providing medical care for Dani for the past couple of weeks. But if the wrong people find out about this, Robert out there in the Jeep and I can't protect her," Mom started. "She needs to be with all of you. The baby is due in about three weeks, but this is all brand new, so, who knows. We'll just have to be ready."

"Isn't she going to need to be in a hospital?" Ella asked.

"Ideally. But that may not to be an option. No one outside of the flock can know. Not yet. I can deliver a baby," Mom said.

"What if something goes wrong?" Dani asked. She looked so scared, I didn't envy her, even a little bit.

"We'll make sure nothing does. Obviously, if we have to, we'll go to a hospital. I'll see if I can arrange something with CSM personnel. There are doctors. Don't worry it'll be all right." Mom didn't seem all that convincing. "What I'm really concerned about is getting her to your house without anyone seeing her or any of you leave. Malcolm comes to replace Robert on watch in two hours. I thought that might be a good time for you to leave."

"Don't you trust them? I thought Jeb picked them himself."

Mom hesitated. "Well, yes. But this is too important to chance."

"If they're professionals, they won't slack just because it's the changing of the guard," I noted.

"That's why I'm going to take a walk then. They're really watching me, not the house. I'll take the dog for a walk and Malcolm will follow me, leaving you all to go without being seen."

Before we left, I called the house to give them the heads up. I decided it was better to prepare them for Dani's arrival, and that she was flying for two now. There were a few random choppers, but they didn't get too close. It still made me a little nervous. We had to stop a couple of times because Dani got tired, but we finally made it home.


	17. Chapter 17

*** Thanks to Borntofly13 and Birdwatched for reviewing! Here's a quick update just for you. This chapter has one of my favorite scenes with Iggy.**

* * *

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Dr. Martinez is leaving her house, sir." She hated it when the security officers called her sir. She wasn't a man for crying out loud. She guessed it came from their military background. On the other hand, she didn't want to be called ma'am either. The security officers had Dr. Martinez under surveillance, waiting for her to lead them to the flock. One of them on duty kept in constant contact, should any pertinent activity occur. Kennedy reported every single thing Dr. Martinez did, for fear that the director's definition of pertinent was more comprehensive than theirs.

"Where is she going?" She sighed, "And call me Director or Dr. Graham, not sir, if you don't mind."

"Yes s- Director. Dr. Martinez appears to be walking her dog."

"Keep an eye on her in case she decides to get in her car and drive to the subjects' house," She ordered.

"As always, Director."

It seemed like they had waiting forever for the doctor to make contact with the experimental subjects. Batchelder was still in Europe and wasn't leading them to the house any time soon. Dr. Martinez was the logical target to survey. But too many times they ended up following a decoy car.

"Sir! I mean, Director, we've spotted movement in the house. Someone is coming out the back door. Stand by."

The director drummed her fingernails impatiently on the desk.

"Well, who is it?" she snapped. "Kennedy, what's going on?"

The com link clicked. "It appears to be some of the subjects themselves, sir. Uh," he caught himself too late, but continued. "There are five of them going into the woods behind the house. And one of them looks-wait a minute, let me get a better look." An excruciating 20 seconds passed. The Director had to restrain herself from yelling into the com link.

"Director, one of the subject appears to be pregnant. Is that even possible?"

Ignoring his question, she asked her own, "Which one?"

"They spy for Dr. Gunther-Hagen, the one called Danielle." They had numbers. They never referred to them by their numbers. Another one of Dr. Gunther-Hagen's weaknesses, giving them names. And so much for controlling their reproduction. She tried to tell him, nature would find a way. Their bodies were made to adapt. Sounds like they were successful.

"Do we have any choppers in the area?"

"Yes, Director."

"Follow them. But subtly. If they think they're being followed, they won't lead you to the house. I think we have a new target, gentlemen. If I can get my hands on that baby, I may not even need the doctor's data. Naturally occurring mutations and genetic codes. It'll be a gold mine." At this point she was talking more to herself than the security officers. They were just the muscle, she was the brains.

"Find the house, but don't move on it yet. I need a little time to prepare for a new arrival. This is going better than I could have imagined."

**oooOOOOOooo**

Back at the house for several days, Dani was getting more attention than she seemed to want. Someone was always wanting to pat her belly and feel the baby or ask questions. She didn't like all the fuss and spent a lot of time alone. Guess she was still feeling bad about the whole handing us over to Dr. Evil thing. She moved into Total and Akila's room and Mom visited every few days to check up on her. It was a lot of driving. Every time she came to the house, her body guards drove Mom's car in the opposite direction in case she was under surveillance. Mom was constantly monitoring Dani and trying to feed her. Nobody let her do anything for herself. Which, I wouldn't have minded myself. If anyone wanted to do my chores or take my dishes to the sink, I'd be happy to let them.

The only one not falling all over himself about it was Iggy.

"You okay?" I asked him as he was sitting at the breakfast bar eating Pop Tarts.

"Yeah, why?"

"I haven't seen you feeling the baby like everyone else. You've been very quiet, even for you." I said.

He shrugged. "It's a little overwhelming."

"What about Dani?"

"What about her?" he questioned.

"I mean, how do you feel about her. Are you glad to have her back here? Or are you still upset about what she did?" I thought maybe he wanted to talk but nobody had asked the right questions yet.

He shrugged again.

"You know, how you feel is how you feel. Either way, it's okay with me."

It took him a while to answer. "I miss talking to her. We used to talk all the time."

"So go talk to her." I suggested.

"I don't even know what to say." He had a mock conversation with an invisible Dani. "Hey, how have you been? Sorry I knocked you up and ruined your life."

I patted his shoulder. "You'll think of something." Angel was rubbing Dani's belly and smiling. "Maybe you should show some interest there, too," I said.

"I am interested. I'm more than interested. But I'm useless. I don't have any idea how to help or what to do."

"Just, be there for her. For them. It'll be all right. We'll all help."

He bit his lip and walked over to Dani sitting in the comfy chair. Angel looked up and moved out of the way.

"Would it be okay if I, you know?" he asked, reaching out his hand.

"Of course. He's yours too."

He knelt down in front of Dani. Putting both of his hands on her belly, and stayed still for a moment. Quickly taking his hands away, he said, "Whoa, that felt weird."

"It feels even weirder from the inside," she laughed.

He smiled and put his hands back on. Slowly, he bent his head forward until his ear was resting on Dani's belly. He closed his eyes. They were both quiet and stayed there for a few minutes. Gradually we all started going back to what we were doing before.

"Hey little guy," Iggy said very softly. "Um, I just want you to know I'm gonna take care of you. And I'm gonna protect you, with my life, if I have to."

One by one, each of us turned our attention toward Iggy. I felt like an eavesdropper, but I didn't want to move and interrupt him. Apparently, everyone was thinking the same thing, because we glanced at each other sheepishly, but no one budged.

"Everyone here will. I'm going to teach you how to fly. And fight. And make bombs. But I want you to play too. I'm gonna get you some toys. We didn't have toys." He swallowed audibly. "We weren't expecting you, but now that you're almost here, I'm glad. You're a lucky kid, to have so many people that already love you. I'm just a kid myself. And a mutant freak at that. But I'm going to be the best dad I can be for you. I promise."

Then he whispered something I couldn't make out and remained there for a while. The rest of us were frozen in place, not moving or even breathing, like if we did, we would break some spell. He said everything we all wished our own fathers would've said to us, if we had known them, or they hadn't been trying to kill us. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. I heard a tiny sniff behind me. When I realized it was Fang, the tears I was so furiously trying to blink away all just sort of fell out. Nudge's chin was quivering and even Gazzy was wiping his nose. None of us had ever seen such an honest, open display of emotion from Iggy. Ever. Especially to someone he hadn't even met yet. It made my heart ache.

Iggy sighed heavily and got up. Touching Dani's hand, he said, "Thanks," and walked away. She was obviously moved as well. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, but she had a look in her eye that wasn't exactly sad. I think it was hope.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Are the helicopters loaded and ready to go?" Dr. Graham asked Kennedy, her chief of security.

"Yes, Director. Two are equipped with medical supplies and staff, the other two are carrying the cybernetic gunners."

"Very good."

"Sir?" The chief silently reproached himself as he saw her roll her eyes. "Will the gunners know which one to bring in? What if she's already had the baby?" he asked, concerned.

"They've been supplied with visual and vocal identification of each of their targets. They will shoot only at those targets. The remaining eleven adolescent mutants, Jeb Batchelder and Valencia Martinez are there only targets. The pregnant one is to be brought in. Unless, of course, the gunners are attacked. They will defend themselves. But I highly doubt a newborn will attack them." Did he think she was an idiot? Did he think she didn't think about that already? She hated being second guessed, but tried to remain in control. "Thank you for your concern Kennedy, but it is unnecessary."

"My apologies, Director." He wasn't convinced.

* * *

**The action heats up next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Max, is your mom here yet?" Iggy asked me.

"She should be here soon. Why? Is everything okay?"

He looked so serious. "I think it might be time," he said.

"Time for what?"

"Seriously? Max."

"Oh, God. Now? It's _that_ time now? Isn't it too early?"

"Well, not _right_ now, but today," he was trying to stay calm.

_Stay calm_, I told myself. Mom told us what we should do if Dani went into labor while she wasn't here. I couldn't think of a single thing all of a sudden.

Iggy was still standing there, waiting for a response from me. He got tired of waiting. "Maybe you could call her to make sure she's on her way?"

"Right. Good idea," I agreed.

Angel ran into the room with Sunny. "Did you know the baby's coming? It's coming today. He's going to have a real birthday. One that we'll all remember. It's so exciting!" Angel was beside herself.

"Yes I know." I was still distracted thinking about what to do.

"Should we get some towels and sheets?

"What? Uh, yeah." Mom did say something about towels and sheets. What else was there?

"How about the alcohol? And the bulb syringe? And, Max, are you listening?"

"No. I mean, yes. How do you remember what we need?"

Angel rolled her eyes. "We have a list, silly." She waved it in my face.

"Okay, you two get Nudge and John to help you get all that stuff together." I was starting to feel like a leader again. And I was starting to remember what we needed to do. "I'm going to call my mom."

I walked down the hall and knocked on Miranda's door. "Miranda? We could use your help out here."

Her door opened, "What's going on?" she yawned.

"It's time. Can you get some ice chips and bring them to Dani?"

Miranda promptly looked wide awake. And shocked. It's funny how we all knew this day was coming, but we still weren't prepared.

"Okay," she said and ran to the kitchen.

Delegate, delegate, delegate. I was doing everything I could to keep from going into Dani's room and seeing for myself.

Jump came out of his room to see what the commotion was all about. I grabbed him.

"Go get a few of those big trash bags from the garage and bring them here?"

"What's going on?" he called to me as he made his way to the garage.

"It's labor day!"

Where were Fang and Dylan, I wondered. They needed to be put to work too. Then I remembered that I forgot to call my mom.

I gabbed a cell phone and hit #1.

"Dr. Martinez. Can I help you?"

"My dog is ready to have puppies," I said. Total's ears pricked up. We usually talked in some sort of code in case someone was listening in. "Can you help?"

"I'll be at the clinic in forty-five minutes." She always said 'the clinic' when she meant our house. 'My office' meant the clinic.

Fifteen minutes later, I saw her car pull up the driveway. We tripled the times, too.

Before Mom even got into the house, Dani and Iggy appeared in the living room. She was sweating and looked tired. And scared.

"They're coming," she said. They? I thought there was only one.

"I don't know what she's talking about. She made me take her to find Dylan." Iggy said seeming at a loss.

On cue, Dylan came in from the deck, "We have to get out here. Now. They're coming."

"_Who's _coming?" I asked.

"I don't know. But they're bad."

Leader Max stepped up. "Angel, Sunny, make that stuff to go! Dylan, help Iggy get Dani to Mom's car."

"We don't have time for that. We'll have to fly her out," Dylan said. "She doesn't look in any shape to fly herself. We'll go to the ridge across the way."

"Wait, you have to take her somewhere my mom can get to."

"We can fly your mom over," Fang suggested. "It's safer over there and they can hide in one of the caves." I hesitated. "We can do it," he said.

"Okay." I didn't see a better option. I did see all the color drain from my mom's face.

We settled my mom and Dani in one of the caves with blankets, towels, trash bags and all the odd and end stuff that I didn't know what it was for. Just before we heard the choppers. Most of the others were waiting in the trees surrounding the house. I hoped Gazzy hadn't rigged up a bomb to blow up Pierpont's house. It was worth many, many millions that we couldn't repay.

"You should be safe here. I'll check on you as soon as we take care of these losers." I said and smiled, hoping to convey some confidence. I turned to leave and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Iggy was following me.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To fight," he said.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "You're needed here more. Protect them."

I took off as I saw the first chopper touch down. Six freakishly large men carrying automatic weapons got out. They had to be genetically altered. There was no way anybody could just assemble such a perfectly matched set of goons. Three more choppers were approaching. Crap! If six men like that got out of every helicopter, we were sunk.

Fortunately, only two copters held freaks, the other two held about half a dozen doctors plus medical equipment. I could see an incubator in one of them. I didn't know how they found out, but they were here for the baby.

Thinking we were still inside the house, some of the ruffians broke through the windows in perfect unison. No doubt expecting to surprise us. The Gasman flew over the house chucking something inside. He got an idea the last time we were ambushed in our own house and concocted his own version of a nerve gas bomb. Unfortunately, it only got to the ones inside. The thugs outside spotted him and started shooting. Gazzy serpentined in the air to avoid getting shot. The other nine of us rushed the goons left standing. Angel got one of them to give her his gun and she threw it to Fang. He gave me a look as if to ask if it was okay to shoot these guys.

"It's us or them," I shouted.

Turns out they were half man/half robot. Well, mainly man/part robotically enhanced, more precisely. Either way, they were toast. While we were engaged, one of the helicopters took off and began circling the area. I shielded my eyes against the sun to see where it went. It appeared to be landing behind the trees on the other side of the canyon.

"Nudge, Gazzy, go across and help Iggy!"

Feeling something whiz by me. I whirled around to see mom's bodyguard, Robert leveling a three-fifty-seven magnum at me. Huh? I was fast, but I didn't think I could outrun a bullet at thirty yards. And something told me he didn't miss very often. _Checkmate_, I thought.

"Duck," he said.

He didn't have to tell me twice. I dove face first into the dirt as shots rang out. The man robots that were in the house started coming out. Gazzy's plan was a good one, but it didn't keep them down long. Robert got two of them in the head as they headed for me. When he shot, he shot to kill. Boy, was I glad he was on our side after all.

Dylan, Miranda, Jump, John, Angel, and Sunny dispensed with the rest of the goons and the doctors in the helicopters. They must have been real doctors because they didn't put up any fight. Wusses. Jeb raided the vehicle for equipment and supplies while the doctors were tied up. Fang and I flew over to see if everyone on the other side was okay.

"I saw the chopper land nearby. Is everything all right here?"

"We haven't seen anybody over here yet," Nudge said. "It's pretty intense in the cave, though."

I tiptoed to the mouth of the cave and listened. It sounded like someone dying in there. Running in to save the day, I skidded to a stop as my mom was saying some encouraging words and helping to ease the baby out. I stood, dumbfounded. It was a sight I didn't necessarily want to see, but I couldn't look away.

I was watching the birth of a new race.

Literally.

Our race.

Shouting outside the cave brought me out of my trance.

"I think we've got company out there," I said.

"Max, we've got to get him out of here. After I wrap him up, give him to Fang. Have him take him far away and hide."

"Okay. If he pulls his disappearing act, they won't find him," I suggested.

"No, you can't take him away already. He's too small," Dani cried. "I want to see him."

I started for the mouth of the cave. "I'll go tell Fang to be ready."

Nudge and Gazzy were ganging up on another one of those cyberguys while Fang kicked one of the doctors in the chest, knocking him several feet and flat on his back. These doctors were fighting back. A few of them were brandishing impromptu weapons they grabbed from the chopper. The Gasman ran around to the other side of the helicopter carrying something tube-like. I saw back-up coming across the canyon as my mom appeared with a bundle in her arms.

"Hand over the child!" one of the doctors yelled. "And we won't hurt you." He had a small gun in his hand.

Without hesitating, Mom ran toward Fang as cyberguy number two pointed his weapon at her.

"Wait! Don't hit the baby!" the doctor shouted to him. I was reasonably sure the scientists wouldn't shoot at an infant, but this guy, I didn't know. Also aware of the situation, Dylan was racing toward him. My relief was short lived as the would be assassin managed to squeeze off a few rounds just as Dylan crashed into him. From that point, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I spread my wings and threw myself between my mom and the gunman. Not being bulletproof, I wasn't sure what I was going to accomplish. I just knew I couldn't let anything happen to them. All of a sudden, I felt both hot and cold at the same time. It was a sensation I couldn't put my finger on. Trying to touch down, I tripped over my own feet and skidded across the dirt. I tried again to get a foothold and caught nothing but air. My left wing went numb and limp, causing me to twist as I fell, momentum carrying me past the ledge. I got a glimpse of Mom standing there, a look of horror on her face. Then normal time resumed.

I felt searing pain in too many places on my body to figure out exactly where it was coming from. I was going over the cliff's edge fast. My wing hung uselessly while I tried to flap the other one with all my strength. I wasn't gonna make it. As I tumbled down toward the canyon floor, I heard Fang shout my name. His voice sounded a million miles away. Fang was all I could think about. Would he save me? Squinting into the sun, I saw two figures flying toward me.

Then everything went black.


	19. Chapter 19

*** I know I just posted last night, but it was literally a cliffhanger, so I thought I'd be kind . . . Mainly for you, BooksRide. I took a peek at your profile. You're being rewarded for reviewing, and for reading and writing age appropriate material. So many very young readers on this site do not. Enjoy!**

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**oooOOOOOooo**

"Maaaaaxx!" Fang screamed. He ran toward the edge of the canyon cliff, ready to take off to go after her. His voice reverberated off the surrounding canyon walls.

"No! Fang!" Dr. Martinez yelled, sobbing, "You have to take the baby and disappear."

"But Max!"

"Let the boys get her. This child needs you more right now." Tears ran down her face as Dr. Martinez quickly handed Fang the swaddled baby and shoved him away from her. "Go!" she screamed. As she turned to flee, Fang saw her go down hard. And bloody.

Numb, Fang spread his wings and flew over the canyon, trying to look down to see if there was any sign of Max, Jump and John. Hearing a chopper coming up behind him, he sped to shake it. He flew over a swell of tree tops and dropped down into the next grove and out of sight. Clutching the infant close to himself, he found a sturdy branch and settled there. He tried to concentrate on blending in with his surroundings, but all he could do was picture Max falling over the rock face. Hot tears stung his eyes. Max couldn't be gone. The boys had to have saved her. He looked down at the bundle in his arms. She saved his life, by offering her own, maybe. He had to keep the baby safe at all costs. It's what Max would want. In the blink of an eye, he was gone. And so was the chopper, having exploded from the inside.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"What's happening?" the Director shouted.

Static was all that came from the com link.

The director pushed the button again. "Come in! What's going on?"

Static again. Then finally a voice. "Sir, Director, whatever." He gave up trying to get it right. "We have engaged the mutants. We haven't located the pregnant girl yet."

Static. "Wait. There's the doctor. She's got something in her arms. It must be the child."

"Take the baby. Shoot Dr. Martinez if you have to. And collect as many of the mutant juveniles as you can."

"Um, yes Director. But, the other three choppers are, um out of commission."

"Out of commission? What do you mean?"

Looking through his binoculars from his chopper, the security chief informed the director. "Some of the mutants have overtaken them. The cybernetic gunners on the other side have all been disabled. It looks like the doctors have been tied up."

"That's impossible!" She grunted in frustration. "Just get that baby!"

The Director could hear yelling and gunfire over the com link, then the sound of the chopper.

Kennedy had to shout over the whoosh of the helicopter blades. "Director! We're in pursuit of the dark one, he has the infant. Maximum Ride is presumed dead. She fell over the bluff after being shot. Right now we're search-"

A loud bang was followed by static, then silence. The Director clicked the button on her com link several times.

"Come in! Kennedy! Come in!"

She banged the desk with her fist, then put her head down on her arm and sighed.

"Damn it."

**oooOOOOOooo**

Beep beep beep beep beep. The equipment monitoring Max's heart sent out a quick and constant reminder that she was in the room. In the bed next to her, Dani held the newborn bird kid as the flock, Jeb, Dr. Martinez and Ella crowded round ohhing and ahhing. The nurse walked past Robert, Malcolm and Nicholas standing guard and into the congested hospital room.

"Visiting hours are over and there are far too many people in this room. You'll have to leave," she said sternly. The group eyeballed her as one and sent her immediately backpedaling. "Of course, if you're all family, we could extend visiting hours a tad." She gave a weak smile. "But could you please limit the number of people in the room. It's a fire hazard." She quickly left the room, never having gotten such expressions of ire from so many at once. Jeb followed the nurse out to smooth things over.

Another nurse of a much more pleasing demeanor entered the room with a wide smile.

"I'm filling out the birth certificate. Have you decided on a name?" she asked. It was one of the more gratifying duties she performed, there at the military hospital. Too often she was tending to badly wounded soldiers or delivering the worst of news to family members. Occasionally, an army wife living on the base would give birth, but usually without the benefit of her husband at her side. And even though they appeared to be mere children themselves, it gave her a lift to see a family together for a change. With a support system the likes of which she had never seen.

"I think we're going to call him James. James Max." Iggy announced.

"Like you," Nudge said. "And Max would love it. _Will_ love it, when she wakes up."

The nurse began writing. "Is that Maxwell?"

"Maximum," Iggy said proudly.

The nurse shrugged. The things people name their kids these days. "And what about the last name?" the nurse inquired.

"Uh, Griffiths, I guess."

The nurse looked puzzled. "You guess? Is that your last name?"

Jeb had walked back into the room, "Yes, that's correct." It wasn't much, but it was confirmation. Jeb didn't usually give away any information if he could help it. But they already figured that out, so technically, he still wasn't giving anything away.

"Okay then. It's official. I'll have his birth certificate ready later today," the nurse cheerfully said as she glided out the door.

"Did you hear that? She said it's official," Gazzy said. "Like, he's a real person."

"We're all real people, dummy," Jump chimed in.

"We know what you mean, Gazzy," Dylan said.

Angel quietly left the flock surrounding Dani's bed to debate their 'realness' and stood next to Fang, sitting in a chair beside Max.

"She's going to wake up soon," she told him.

"Did your voice tell you that?" he asked. The voices seemed to be spot on, so if the voice said so, it gave him hope.

"No, my heart," Angel said quietly. "She has to."

It hurt them so to see Max lying in a bed on her side, wing bandaged, face bruised, leg broken, with IV and electrodes sticking out of her. Max was supposed to be the strong one. And now she was fragile and weak and all they could do was wait to see if she would ever wake up.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Wake up Max

Wake up now, Max

WAKE UP NOW, MAX!

I took in a heavy, deep breath. Slowly, I let it out, then yawned. Bit by bit, I opened my eyes. My mouth was as dry as cotton. The last thing I remembered was falling. Feeling disoriented, I looked around. The bed next to mine was empty. Fang was sitting in a chair next to me, his head leaning so far back I could see the roof of his mouth as he slept. He looked totally uncomfortable. I wondered how long he'd been sitting there. I reached out to touch him and felt a sharp pain in my shoulder. Actually, both my shoulders. My left wing was bandaged and sore, too. I surveyed the rest of me and discovered that I was battered more than I ever have been in my life. And that's saying something. There was a cast on my left leg and a sizable bump on my head. In fact, my whole left side was pretty much useless.

Someone dressed in camouflage scrubs walked in with a chart and started writing down data from the monitors. When she checked the IV, she glanced down at me.

"Oh. I wasn't expecting you to be awake." She gently put a hand on Fang. "She's back," she said with a smile. Fang started, then blinked himself aware. "I'll go get the doctor and call your family," the nurse said and headed out the door.

Still blinking as if he didn't believe what he saw, Fang leaned closer.

"Hi," my voice squeaked.

"Hi," he said. "Nice of you to join us."

"My Voice said it was time. I feel like crap. How long have I been out? What happened? Is everyone all right? Where's the baby?"

"Slow down. One question at a time. You've been out for four days. You took a really bad fall. If it wasn't for Jump and John. . ." his voice broke.

I was starting to remember. I remembered falling. I also vaguely remembered getting my arm pulled out of its socket. By Jump. He kept me from crashing to the canyon floor, mostly anyway. Fang didn't come for me. He was supposed to take the baby away.

"You did the right thing," I said. He looked down. "Even if I wouldn't have made it, you did the right thing. Please tell me everybody's all right."

"Everybody's all right. Your mom was shot, but she's okay."

"What!"

"It was her shoulder, but she's going to be fine. The funny thing is, you'll probably be healed before she is." He took out a polaroid picture. "We had one of the nurses take this of everyone before Dani and the baby left the hospital."

All thirteen of the flock, plus Ella, Mom and Jeb were in the picture, barely. I was in the corner of the shot looking like I just fell off a cliff. Oh, that's right, I did.

"Oh great," I complained. "My eyes are closed in this one." I laughed. Ouch. I reminded myself not to laugh again. "So when are you going to spring me outta here?"

"They want to keep you here another week."

"So, like, tomorrow?" I asked, doing my special healing time math.

"No. Like, a week. Max, that was the closest to really dying any of us ever came. You falling over the edge of that cliff with a broken wing was the scariest thing I ever saw. You have to heal. If I have to sit here for a week straight and babysit you, you're staying." The somber expression on his face convinced me not to protest.

"Besides, you don't want to be walking down the aisle with a permanent limp, do you?"

"What?"

"I asked you to marry me almost nine months ago. It's time to man up."

My heart started to pound. Which, embarrassingly enough, showed up on the monitor. I guess if he ever needed proof that he made my heart go pitter patter-that was it. Of course, a doctor and two nurses came running into the room to check on me after that.

**oooOOOOOooo**

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*** Up next, the BIG event :)**


	20. Chapter 20

***Thanks to those reading! Here's a little 'treat' for you on Halloween :)**

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**oooOOOOOooo**

"Nudge, stop fussing with it!" I said. "It's good enough, I'm sure."

"Good enough? That's what you really want?" She impersonated Fang, "Why Max, you look-good enough." Angel and Sunny giggled. "You want him to think you look beautiful."

"He already does," Angel said.

Nudge poked her. "You're not helping. I'm almost finished"

She fussed a little more with my hair, then finally announced that she was done. Nudge led me to a mirror and asked what I thought.

I leaned forward and blinked. "Is that really me?" I looked into the mirror at Nudge. "How did you do that?"

My hair was swept up with curls tumbling here and there. And she put little crystals in it too. I couldn't help think how hard it was going to be to get all that stuff out of my hair. And Nudge was an artist with the make up. I think maybe I wore make up twice before, but not like this. Fang was hardly going to be able to recognize me.

"Do you like it?" Nudge asked anxiously.

"You made me look like-a girl," I said, astonished. It sounded like a joke, but I actually meant it.

"Hurry up, you have to change," Sunny reminded.

My dress was a full length white halter. Angel suggested a backless dress so my wings would show. I felt like a princess. Yes, even girls who love to punch things want to feel like a princess once in a while. Then Nudge sprinkled sparkly glittery stuff on me, my wings too. Okay,_ now_ I felt like a princess. Or possibly Tinker Bell.

Miranda came into the room. "Are you ready?" I think she actually gasped when she saw me. "Wow, I clean up good. Nudge, can you make me look like that?" She smiled. "Everybody's waiting." The girls left to go find their seats outside. I picked up the small bunch of wildflowers Dani picked for me to carry and took a deep breath. _You've done far more difficult things than this_, I told myself. _ I don't think so_, I replied.

I walked outside and waited for my cue. The sun was sinking toward the horizon casting a pink and orange glow over the whole scene. Dylan started softly playing guitar. Alone at the other end of the aisle, Fang, dressed in a black (of course) suit, turned to look at me. He took my breath away. Neither of us were able to choose one best man or maid of honor from all our friends, so we had no attendants, just the two of us. Dylan started singing the song we picked, from one of my favorite movies. Not a traditional wedding song, but then there was nothing traditional about any of this. Nudge joined in. Wow, they sounded so incredible together. Everyone turned around to watch me. Oh yeah, I was supposed to start walking.

Somehow, I made it down the aisle, without twisting my ankle in my heels, to stand with Fang.

"You look," he whispered, "breathtaking." Okay, that was a much better response than 'good enough'.

I had to remind myself to breathe as well. And thinking straight was completely out of the question. Luckily, the Justice of the Peace told us exactly what to say. It was all happening so fast. Too fast. Before I knew it, he was pronouncing us husband and wife. Fang didn't bother waiting for the J.P. to tell him to kiss me. When we stopped, I could feel myself blushing while everyone clapped. My heart was going a mile a minute. _What did we just do_, I thought. I looked at our gathered family and friends, then at Fang, all dressed up in his suit. A serious case of déjà vu came over me.

Seeing the expression on my face, Fang asked, "What's wrong? Having second thoughts already?"

"You're not going to go anywhere tonight, are you?"

"Tonight?" He smiled mischievously. "The one night everyone's going to leave us alone?"

"It's just that the last time we were standing at an altar, dressed up, with all our family and friends, it ended up being the worst day of my life." I was remembering Total and Akila's wedding.

Fang took my hands, "I just promised never to leave you in front of all these people. I'm not going anywhere."

Satisfied by his word, I allowed myself to relax a little and enjoy the rest of the day. We all danced and talked and ate into the night. It was magical. My mood was so high, I even thanked and sort of half-hugged Jeb. And I found myself secretly playing matchmaker. By the end of the night, I had everyone paired up in my mind, even Mom. That guy John, from the CSM, seemed nice.

Fang drew my attention toward Ella slow dancing with Jump. I raised my eyebrows. Not the pair I would have picked. Still, they looked like they were having a good time.

"He seems to be having fun for a change."

"There's something in the air," Fang said. "He's gotten a lot more confident, especially after saving your butt."

"Well, it's easy to ask the girl to dance when you already know she wants you too. Where's the risk of heart break? He should have to work for it." I was feeling a little protective of Ella.

"Like I had to?" he laughed.

"I'm glad you didn't give up on me," I said and kissed him. Kissed him like I forgot there were other people around. Which I did.

"Get a room," somebody joked as they walked by.

"Oh yeah," I said. "Where are we going tonight?"

"You'll see," was the only answer I got. I couldn't fly too far yet, so all of my favorite destinations were out of the question-beach, Paris, Vegas.

Later in the evening, I spotted Iggy, sitting by himself, a tiny bundle in his lap. I walked over and ruffled his already tousled hair. He smiled up at me.

"I still can't believe you guys did it," he said, shaking his head, but still smiling.

"Me neither," I agreed. I sat down in the empty chair next to him. "You know, I thought it was supposed to be me and Fang that would, I don't know, carry on the bird people race. My mom sort of lead us to believe that we were the only ones that could. But, watching you with him," I looked at the little tan face peeking out of the receiving blanket, "I'm glad it was you. I mean, maybe it wasn't the best timing, though." I gently stroked the baby's cheek. "You really stepped up. Taken responsibility. You're so good with him. I don't think I'm cut out for being a parent, at least not any time soon. So, I'm glad it's you. And I'm glad he's going to be the first free-range bird kid." For some stupid reason I started getting choked up and I wished I could think of something funny to say. Or that he would.

Instead, he decided to be uncharacteristically sentimental. "Max, I never got a chance to thank you. Really thank you, for saving him. You gave your life for his."

"Um, still alive." I tried to joke, but got even more choked up.

"Because of luck. And Jump and John. And you did it without any regard for yourself. How do you thank somebody for that?"

I put my hand on his. "By naming him after me? I'm truly honored." He put his other hand over mine and gave it a squeeze. "But maybe you should have named him after Gazzy."

"What? Why?" he asked.

"Because he stinks," I laughed.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Where are you going to be?" Mom asked.

"I don't know." I answered honestly.

"It's so late, maybe you should wait until morning."

"What if we need to get in touch with you?" Jeb asked.

"We'll have our cell phones. Leave a message." Fang said.

"But."

"I'm not telling any of you. Give it up," Fang told them. "We'll be back in a few days."

We had just a few things in our backpacks. Fang said we'd just buy what we needed when we needed it. I hated not knowing where we going, not being in control. We'd flown west for a couple of hours when my wing started to feel achy. He said we could rest soon. I knew we were not too far from our special cliffs, and when he started heading slightly south, I knew that was where we were going. The closer we got, the more I was looking forward to just resting and being alone with him.

When we were a few miles away, he said, "I guess you figured out where we're going, huh?"

"Yeah," I smiled.

"Is that okay?" he asked.

"Perfect."

When we landed, he turned on the lantern he put there the a couple of days earlier. The look on his face told me he was more surprised than I was.

"What the?" Fang was at a loss for words.

"Oh my God, this place looks amazing. How did you do all this?" I asked, astonished.

"I didn't. I mean, I brought a few things here, but I didn't do all this."

There were lots of blankets and pillows, candles, flowers, an iPod with speakers, and two small coolers filled with food and drinks. And there was a note.

Max and Fang,

We all got together to fix this place up for you. We hope you like it. Stay as long as you want, we'll be fine. Have a wonderful honeymoon.

Love,

Angel

"How did they know? Did you tell them?"

Fang read the P.S. For an answer.

P.S. Fang, it was all you thought about for days. Sorry for reading your mind.

"That little sneak," he said.

"Thoughtful little sneak," I smiled. I peeked into one of the coolers. "Cookies."

We went to an all night convenient store to use the bathroom. 'Cause paradise had no running water, obviously. I couldn't wait to get all that stuff out of my hair and wash my face. When I came out, Fang was drinking an iced coffee and talking to the cashier.

"I got you an iced," he smirked, "coffee. Vanilla, right?" And handed it to me. "I see you got rid of the face paint."

"Uh, is that okay?"

The cashier looked back and forth between us. She was as interested in his response as I was.

"You still look breathtaking." He gave me a quick kiss.

The cashier smiled. "Aaww. He's a keeper," she said.

Got that right.

We enjoyed everything the flock left for us that night. And that's _all_ I'm saying about that. The next morning, or more precisely, afternoon, we woke up to the screeching of hawks. As I watched the flock together, I realized I had a confession to make. But I didn't want to ruin this time we had. Fang looked through the coolers to see what we could eat.

"There's some fruit. And Mountain Dew. And cookies. Breakfast of champions," he offered.

"Iggy was going to make French toast casserole for today," I said, distracted.

"We could go to a diner or something if you want French toast."

I thought about it, but it wasn't really the French toast I was getting at. "No, this is fine." I sat, still watching the hawks.

Fang sat down with me. "Do you want to fly with them?"

"No. I just want to watch them. They're so beautiful."

He frowned.

"How about coffee then?"

We flew down to our favorite little convenient store. Again, to use the facilities. Note to self-next time pick a place with a toilet. It's surprising how you get used to life's little luxuries once you live in a house. I reflected on the times before, when we lived in a subway or the woods or some other inappropriate place. Eating rabbit, garbage, or worse. Good times. And there we were, in a convenient store, buying coffee like normal people. It was something we all dreamed about, doing normal things, like normal people.

"Hello?"

"What?" I was lost in thought and didn't hear Fang taking to me.

"Sandwiches. Do you want turkey, ham, or roast beef?"

"Sounds good." I said, still preoccupied.

Back at the cave with sandwiches and drinks, we sat amongst the comfy pillows and started eating.

I looked at mine before biting into it. "You got me turkey, ham _and_ roast beef?"

"You said 'sounds good' when I asked," he shrugged while he chewed. Not that having that much meat on a sandwich was too much for me. He said something else, but I wasn't paying attention as I started eating.

He leaned over and kissed my neck. His rough hand reached up and turned my face toward him. I tried to quickly swallow my bite of sandwich. I thought he was going to kiss me but he just looked at me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Trying to get your attention." He sighed, "Where are you? You've been in your own world all day."

"I'm sorry."

He sighed, "You want to go back, don't you?"

I wanted to say 'no', but I wouldn't have meant it. "Am I super lame? Don't get me wrong, I love this. But I'm worried about them. It seems like whenever we're not there, something goes wrong."

"That's not tru-," he started to say.

"Eraser attacks, couch on fire, nasty stuff in the water supply, the whole Hollywood debacle. Need I go on?"

He smiled. "Okay, okay." He put his hands up in an 'I give up' gesture. "I kinda sorta wanted to go back, too. I didn't want you to think I wasn't happy being with just you."

And that's why I was so crazy about him. My other half. He didn't make me feel like a total dork. He thought just like me. We agreed on everything. Well, the important stuff anyway. We were both just a couple of geeks. And we missed our family.

He stood up. "We'll have to leave most of this stuff here." I pulled his arm down and pushed him back down on the pile of pillows. I kissed him and smiled.

"I didn't say we had to leave right now. We should wait until it gets dark."

He flashed one of those killer smiles at me. "Hmm. What are we going to do until then?"

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Do you have everything you brought?" Fang asked me. We were getting packed up and ready to go home.

"We should bring Nudge's iPod back. I don't even know how they got the coolers up here. I guess the rest of it stays." I looked around. "This could be our private little vacation spot."

"Yeah, one that the whole flock knows about," he laughed. "Don't forget to blow out those candles."

I leaned over the candle to snuff it out between my fingers. Before they got close enough to touch the flame, it went out.

"Hmm? That was weird."

I reached for the other candle. The same thing happened. "Did you see that?" I asked Fang.

"See what?" He walked over. I took out a match and relit the candles. I demonstrated what I had done before, with the same results.

"Maybe you're breathing on it before you have a chance to put it out," he suggested. "Try the other one again."

"I don't think so," I said. I put my hand next to the flame. But instead of trying to put it out I watched it. The flame drifted toward my hand. I moved my hand to the other side and the flame followed. Waving my fingers through the fire, it grew bigger, but it didn't burn me.

"Hey, be careful!" Fang yelled and pulled my hand away.

"It doesn't hurt," I said. "I wonder." What I was wondering was, if I could control the flame. I reached out again and focused on trying to grab it. Fang started to pull my arm away again, but I pushed his hand back. "Wait." Slowly, I put my fingers directly in the fire. When I pulled them back out, I was holding a small flame. It startled me to see it and instinctively I shook my hand, accidentally throwing the flame on the pile of pillows. Fang sprang into action, grabbing a water bottle. One of the pillows was a little scorched, but no real harm was done.

"Oops," I said apologetically. "But on the plus side, it looks like I've acquired a new skill," I smiled broadly.

Fang rolled his eyes. "Great. Between you, Gazzy and Iggy, no couch will be safe."

I had to admit, as far as skills went, it was scary. I couldn't have another knee-jerk reaction like that. The consequences could be deadly. But at the same time-so cool! I couldn't wait to get back and tell everyone else.

"Let's go before the whole place goes up in flames," Fang grinned.

"Well, at least you can say you have a hot girlfriend and really mean it."

"You mean wife."

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. I looked down at my new ring and twisted it on my finger. White gold, etched with a pair of wings. Remembering Fang putting it on my finger, I caught myself beaming dopily. He did too. Ugh. I could feel myself flush. And some sort of jibe coming my way.

"Don't say it," I warned.

He put his arm around my waist. "I was just going to say, me too." He kissed my cheek and said, "Let's go home."

**oooOOOOOooo**

* * *

*** I hope you liked that chapter. It was one of my favorites. The fic isn't winding down, though. There's much more to Iggy's (& others) story! Thanks for reading. I hope you'll drop a review to let me know what you think!**


	21. Chapter 21

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Holy crap, what happened!" Miranda yelled as she walked into the smoky kitchen. She glared at Gazzy, John and Jump.

"We're cooking," Gazzy answered. "It burned a little."

"A little?!" She opened the oven and smoke came billowing out. "What was in there?"

The smoke alarm began shrieking. Everyone covered their ears.

Dylan ran out of his room. "What's going on?" he shouted over the noise.

"The boys are supposedly cooking," Miranda shouted back. "Can you turn that off?"

"Um, I'm not sure how," he tried to yell over the noise.

"We can't hear the t.v!" Sunny yelled. "Turn it off!"

Nudge grabbed a dish towel and began waving it in front of the smoke alarm. "Ugh, that smells awful!"

"Close the oven!" Gazzy shouted.

One by one, the flock wandered into the kitchen covering their ears.

"Anyone know how to turn that off?" Miranda called out.

Iggy stomped down the stairs. Then continued on to the utility closet. The silence was a welcome relief until they heard crying. "Thanks guys," he growled. "You woke up the baby."

A shamefaced Gasman apologized, "Oh, sorry. We were trying to make dinner so you didn't have to. I forgot to set the timer."

Miranda took a potholder and took the tray out of the oven. "I can't tell if these were French toast sticks or fish sticks."

"Actually, they're mini corn dogs," John said. "Or they were, anyway." He lifted the lid to a pot. "This was peas." The bottom of the pot was black.

"Looks like it's pizza tonight," Dylan suggested. "Maybe Jeb can pick it up on his way back. I'll call him. You guys get rid of the evidence. And open some windows."

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Too late," I laughed. "Busted." I turned to Fang. "See, I told you something bad always happens when we're gone."

The flock stared as we stood in the doorway.

"What are you doing back already?" Nudge asked, still waving the dish towel around.

"We missed everyone."

"You came back from your honeymoon after only one night, and you called me a dork?" Iggy smirked. "You might be sorry you came back. It's chaos around here." The baby was still crying upstairs.

"I can see that," Fang said. He leaned over to me and whispered, "We could still go back."

"What's wrong? Why are you back? Did something happen?" Dylan asked.

"Just here, looks like," I said. "We were ready to come home is all."

The crying from upstairs finally stopped.

"Did you like all the stuff we left?" Angel asked.

"Yes, you little sneak," Fang said. "Don't do that again."

Dylan interrupted, "Jeb's going to be here with pizza in about forty minutes. We have to get this place aired out-quick. Open some windows."

While the others took care of things downstairs, I put our backpacks in our room. It smelled slightly smoky even up there. I opened a window and looked out. There were a million stars in the clear night. Turning back around to leave, I thought, _This is our room_. I mean, it always was, but now it was _Mr. and Mrs. . ._

But Mr. and Mrs. what? Mr. and Mrs. Fang? We hadn't really even talked about it. Iggy was the only one who knew his real last name. I guess technically, mine should have been either Batchelder or Martinez. Fang never picked a last name and I certainly didn't want to give up the one I picked myself. I was Maximum Ride. I always was. Always will be. Well, I figured it didn't matter that much. We weren't going to be getting monogrammed towels or anything. I heard a car pulling up outside and looked out the window again. Jeb was a few minutes earlier than expected. I hurried downstairs to give everyone the heads up.

"I just saw Jeb's car. Start closing windows or he'll ask what happened. Did someone light a candle? It smells worse now than when I went upstairs."

Nudge made a face. "You don't like it? It supposed to smell like the beach."

"It smells like cocoanut sweat," I said and stuck my tongue out.

After all the windows were closed, Miranda said, "Hopefully the pizza will take the smell away. Somebody should go out and help Jeb carry them in. I think Dylan ordered twelve of them."

Only in a house full of bird-kids do you order a whole pizza for each person. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled them. Most of us stood around the breakfast bar eating right out of the box we were so hungry.

I took out a plate and put four slices on it. "Iggy, do you want me to take Dani some pizza?"

He was practically falling asleep while he was eating. I guess having baby duty was taking its toll.

"Thanks, Max. I'm just gonna sit down for a while, if that's okay."

I walked upstairs with the plate and as I went past my room I looked at the open window. Did I leave that open? I shouldn't have. Suddenly, I got a very bad feeling. I cautiously walked into Dani's room. It was too quiet. Total and Akila were sleeping in the corner. They would have barked if something was wrong, right? But with the smoke alarm going, would we have heard them? Dani's bed was empty. She must be in the bathroom, I thought. The bassinet was empty too. Maybe she took him with her. I froze when I noticed the open window. I didn't come in here before. I didn't open it. Did Dani? Where was she? Then I saw the white cloth on the floor by Total. I picked it up. It was damp and had a medicine-y smell. Oh God.

"Dani?" I yelled. "Where are you?" I shook Total. "Total, wake up. Where's the baby?" Nothing. "Total! Where's Dani? Wake up!" I shook Akila. I was heading for the stairs when Fang, Dylan and Angel came running upstairs.

"She's not in her room. Did she go downstairs?" I was totally panicking. "And something's wrong with Total and Akila."

Angel ran to the dogs. Total would kill me if he heard me refer to him as that. The rest of us checked all of the upstairs rooms, which was only two bedrooms, a bathroom and a linen closet. They were nowhere to be found. By then, Nudge, Sunny and John had also come upstairs to see what was going on.

"What do you mean they're not here?" Sunny asked. "Where would Dani go?"

"You don't think she kidnapped James, do you?" Nudge asked.

"We're not going there," I said, even though the thought had crossed my mind too. "Nudge, can you get anything from this cloth? I found it by Total." He still hadn't woken up.

She held it in her hand and closed her eyes. "It's a woman, with brown hair and red rimmed glasses and a white coat." She opened her eyes. "Oh, my God, it's a doctor. There's chloroform on the cloth. She took them. And something about crackers? I don't know."

"How? Without any of us seeing or hearing? One woman couldn't have done it alone." Dylan said.

He was right, but then I suddenly remembered the two erasers that got away at Dr. Good-for-Nothing's lab. I couldn't remember if they had wings or not. "Why didn't you see this coming?" I said to Dylan, accusingly. I immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, it's not your fault."

"I guess I was distracted by the smoke alarm." He clearly felt bad that he didn't sense it.

"Why don't you all go fly around and see if you see any people or cars driving down the mountain. Angel, John, can you send out a message to her? Maybe she's not too far away. See if you can contact her and ask her where she is."

"I'll try," Angel said.

"Me, too. But I usually have to be close to someone," John said.

"Just do your best."

At the moment, Jeb came upstairs. "What's going on? Why are you all up here?"

No point beating around the bush. "Dani and the baby are missing. And Total and Akila have been knocked out." I told him. His face went white. "Where's Iggy? Does he know anything is wrong?"

Jeb shook his head. "He fell asleep on the couch."

"Good. Let him sleep. There's nothing he can do right now. We'll tell him when he wakes up. Hopefully, we'll have them back by then. Meanwhile, go take a look at the dogs. Nudge said they were chloroformed."

Jeb examined the dogs. "Their vital signs are stable so they should be all right when they wake up, with headaches, most likely."

So glad I cut my honeymoon short for this.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dani's head hit the floor of the van as it hit a large pot hole, waking her up. She was disoriented and had a headache. All she could remember was a sweet smell as she bent over the basinet to check on James. The smoke alarm had woken him up and Iggy had gone downstairs to get someone to turn it off.

Dani looked up and saw a particularly vicious looking eraser holding her baby. There couldn't have been a scarier sight. Her head was still swimming, but she tried to talk.

"Baby," She struggled to sit up and hold her hands out. "Please?"

The eraser looked to Dr. Graham for direction. "Go ahead. She can't get away."

Dani's feet were shackled to a bar inside the van and she wasn't in any shape to fly. At that point, she didn't care. She was just glad to have James back. Her head was pounding and it felt like something inside was trying to tell her something. But she couldn't concentrate. The doctor looked familiar to her. Then she remembered, she was working with Dr. Hans, mostly doing research. She didn't come to see the flock very often, only a handful of times. But Dani was fairly sure this was Dr. Graham. She shuddered to think what was going to happen to herself and the baby.

They rode in silence for hours. Dani was hungry and James was starting to fuss. He was hungry too. Dani started to lift her shirt.

"Whoa, what do you think you're doing?" one of the erasers asked. By now he was more or less human looking, if still a little creepy and he looked utterly uncomfortable.

"He's hungry. I have to feed him." She continued what she was doing. "You have no problem breaking someone's neck, but seeing a baby nurse makes you squeamish?" She turned as far away from them as she could.

"You're Dr. Graham, aren't you?" Dani finally had the nerve to ask.

"Yes. You remember me. I'm surprised. I only saw you a couple of times." Dr. Graham said. "Beautiful baby. I guess that's one mystery answered. If only Dr. Burgess were here to see it." But she was reasonably sure he had placed his bet on their laying eggs, the idiot. Why did he think they had mammary glands?

Dani's blood ran cold at the mention of Dr. Burgess. He was the one that mentally tortured her every day, telling her what he and the lab technicians were going to do to her. And if she didn't cooperate, he'd let the erasers have her. Every time he came to get her from her room, she wondered if that would be the day he'd make good on his threats. Fortunately, Dr. Hans got her out of there first. Of course, now she realized it was all a set up, to get her to spy for Dr. Hans. Dr. Gunther-Hagen. She stifled a laugh. Max always called him something funny, like Dr. Good-and-Fruity or Hagen-Daas. It made him seem so much less threatening. Needless to say, he wasn't at all threatening now, since Dani fried him. If only she could do that now. She couldn't figure out how to knock all of them out without hurting James, too. And then, she was still shackled to the bar.

"What are you going to do with us?" Dani asked.

Dr. Graham looked at her blankly. "I'm a research scientist. What do you think I'm going to do with you?" She hated those evil scientist stereotypes. Dr. Gunther-Hagen fit the mold perfectly, but she was a true scientist. "I have no interest in tormenting you. I need to study the baby, perform tests. Mostly blood tests, some tissue samples." Dani gasped. "I'm really only interested in decoding his DNA. And yours. But mostly his."

"And then you'll let us go?"

"Not likely. I have no idea how long or how many samples it will take to find what I'm looking for." A tear ran down Dani's face. "Be glad we took you together. We could have just taken him. But I think it's best for a baby to nurse, for the first six months at least. I could probably do without you at that point."

"I'll never leave him with you!"

The doctor rolled her eyes. Such defiance from the completely helpless.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	22. Chapter 22

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Please stop," Angel begged.

Iggy's hands resembled road kill as he continued to punch holes in kitchen drywall. Literally in a blind rage over the kidnapping, he did the only thing he could at the time.

Angel begged again, "Please, you're hurting yourself. Stop."

Iggy gave one final punch that hit a stud and gave out a loud, sickening crack of bone. He must have been in a great deal of pain, but ignored it.

"Why didn't you wake me up right away? Why did I leave them alone? Why did you leave your window open, Max?" He screamed.

I tried not to take it personally.

"Do you really think a closed window would have stopped them?" Jeb asked him. Iggy glared at him, not only like he could see him, but like he could actually burn holes in him. "Iggy, if they wanted the baby, they would have found a way. He's very valuable to Dr. Graham."

Jump, John, Miranda and Sunny all knew from Nudge's description that it was Dr. Graham from Gunther-Hagen's team. She was next in line for directorship and the only one from the team we didn't get during the raid. Well, the only doctor. We didn't get those last two erasers either. We figured she must be putting together a new team.

"Yeah, well, he's very valuable to me too." Iggy was still yelling. "Why can't they just leave us alone?" he said, calming down. He was probably still tired from being up all night and then spending what little energy he had beating up the wall. He sunk down into an overstuffed chair. I looked at the clock. Nudge and Sunny were back, but Dylan and Fang had been gone for over an hour. _If they haven't found them by now, they're not going to_, I thought. Not by just flying around blindly.

"I'd better take a look at your hand," Jeb suggested.

"I got it," Iggy said as he pushed the bone back into place until it clicked together. He didn't even flinch. Nudge brought over a cloth bandage to wrap it in while it healed.

"James is very valuable to all of us," she said as she wrapped his hand. "We'll get him back. We'll get them both back."

"I'm going to have a talk with Dr. Burgess. He may have an idea where Dr. Graham would be setting up shop," Jeb said.

Nudge shot a look at Jump. I'd have to ask about that later. "Dr. Burgess?" she asked.

"Yes." Jeb explained, "He's one of the doctors from Hans's team. We've had him-detained for a while. I think I can persuade him to talk, or even cooperate."

Jump stood with his fists clenched at his side. "You've had him all this time?"

Jeb shrugged and smirked. "Sometimes there's a lot of red tape to go through. We could probably keep him for years before anyone really makes a fuss about it."

"You can forget about him cooperating. He sick. He tortured us. All of us, in ways you can't imagine," Jump said.

"Unfortunately, Jeb's got quite an imagination himself," I said. I saw Jeb posture subtly slump. Maybe he was finally starting to feel bad about all the crap he put us through. I bet none of them had to kill their own brother. Or had their brother try to kill them. "But it's definitely worth a shot. Maybe this Dr. Burgess is ready to turn from the dark side." Somehow, I highly doubted that.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Ironically, Dr. Burgess was being held a room eerily similar to those the other flock had been kept in. Karma bites, doesn't it? Jeb called ahead and had the guards begin depriving the doctor of some daily necessities to prime him for questioning. It was times like these, when I was pretty sure Jeb was on our side, that I was glad he could be cold and calculating.

Dr. Burgess looked cold, hungry and a little scared. He could dish it out, but boy, he sure couldn't take it. We sat across from him in utilitarian chairs in his spartan room. Jeb handed him a half empty water bottle. He guzzled it in one breath.

He looked at me. "You're not Miranda. I guess you're Max?" I nodded.

Jeb held out a hunk of dried beef jerky, then pulled it back out of reach. "First, you have to answer some questions."

Burgess licked his lips. "You can't keep me here. It's illegal."

Jeb got up, "Okay, we're done."

What? He didn't even tell us anything. Jeb walked to the door and knocked, motioning for the guard to open it.

"Wait," Dr. Burgess said desperately. He sighed. "What do you want to know?"

Okay, Jeb knew what he was doing. He was a master at manipulating people. We sat back down.

"Dr. Graham is still missing. Do you have any idea where she is?" Jeb asked. He turned the jerky over in his hands as he spoke.

"No."

Jeb started to get up again.

"But, I have some thoughts on where she might go," he said hopefully. Jeb waited for him to continue. "She always talked about another doctor she knew. He wasn't associated with Hans. But she worked with him years ago and she wanted to work with him again. He specialized in chimera, studying under Dr. Stuart Harper."

"What was his name?"

"His name?" he looked panicked. "I -I can't remember. It was something like. . . What did she call him? Dr. Who. She called him Dr. Who."

"His name was Dr. Who?" I was incredulous.

"No that's just what she called him. I can't remember his real name. If I could remember, I'd tell you."

Jeb got up for the third time. "Okay. When you come up with the name, let the guards know. They'll call me to come back. Thank you, Dr. Burgess."

"What about the beef?" he called. "He had a facility just outside Fargo." Jeb threw him the jerky. "Thank you!"

I'd never seen anyone outside the flock so happy to get crappy food before.

As we walked out, I had to ask, "What's chimera?"

"In mythology, it's a creature made up of different species. It was part lion, part goat and part snake. In today's scientific world it's a being created by injecting embryonic stems cells of one animal, or more, into that of another." Jeb explained.

"Oh, like us?"

"Exactly. The resulting being contains cells from each animal that used in direct proportion to the number of cells introduced." Jeb elaborated.

"Once again, in English, please."

"For instance, you are roughly 98 percent human, two percent avian. So you look mostly human, except for the wings, of course and some internal changes, such as your bones. Obviously, there is some ichthyoid in there too. But not a lot." I must have had a blank look on my face. "Sorry, that's fish. That's why you have gills. And there are bits and pieces of other species too."

"Oh."

"But you and the original flock were also genetically engineered to be stronger and smarter using human DNA." Jeb added.

"I wonder what I would have been like if you and Mom just made me the regular way." I said quietly.

Jeb sighed and said under his breath, "Yeah."

We drove back home in relative quiet. I put Nudge on researching labs anywhere near Fargo, North Dakota. That was assuming Dr. Burgess was telling the truth. It was a long shot, but it was all we had.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Anything?" I asked Nudge.

"Maybe. There are a few places that could be it. I've ruled out about six places already. Since we don't know the name of it, I'm looking for any place that could house a laboratory."

"Good thinking, Nudge." I said. "After you check those last few, pan out further from the city and see what you get."

Nudge sighed heavily. "Okay."

"You can take a break, you know. Let someone else on the computer." I paused. "I know you really want to be the one to find them. It doesn't matter who finds them, just that we do." Nudge nodded. "I'll get Jump or Dylan to take over."

Jeb's cell phone rang in the other room. I left Nudge to see if it was about Dr. Burgess.

"Okay, we'll be there in about an hour," Jeb was saying as he looked at his watch. He held up his index finger when he saw me. "Did he say why?" He listened to the voice on the other end. "One hour then." He hung up.

"He remembered the name?" I asked.

"He wasn't specific, but he said he has more information."

"We'd better get going if we're going to get there in an hour." I started to put some shoes on.

"You're not going this time. He wants me to bring Miranda. And a pizza." He chuckled. "I guess they're still not feeding him properly."

"Why Miranda?" I was curious.

"I don't know, but if it gets us what we need, that's what I'll bring."

I definitely did not like being kept out of the loop. "I'm going, too. I want to ask him a couple of questions myself."

"Max, let me handle this. You stay here and help Nudge find that doctor on line." Jeb said.

"Dr. Burgess worked with Dani all the time, he might have some, I don't know, insight." I fidgeted with my nails.

"You don't still think she took James and ran off, do you?"

"What?" Iggy was standing in the doorway.

Uh oh.

"Back in a few hours." Jeb cut and ran. Can't say that I blame him.

Iggy stood with his arms crossed and his back straight. If I hadn't known him so well, I would have been very intimidated. At six foot four, he towered over even me. His face was expressionless. I wasn't sure if I should start talking or wait for him.

He finally spoke. "So, you think Dani kidnapped James and ran off with Dr. Graham and a couple of erasers? Really?" His voice practically dripped with mockery, his arms waving.

I was ashamed for thinking it, but we had to consider all possible scenarios. I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.

"Why? What is it about her that you just can't give the benefit of the doubt? I opened my mouth again, but he continued talking.

"I know what she did was bad. She tried to take it back. For crying out loud, Max, she killed Gunther-Hagen."

I didn't even get a chance to open my mouth that time before he started talking again.

"You know how that feels. She did it for us."

"It was revenge." Finally, I got a word in. But that wasn't what I wanted to say. He started to talk again so I put my hand over his mouth. "Wait!" I yelled. "Let me talk." I composed myself and tried to choose my words carefully, something new and different.

"I admit it crossed my mind that she may have taken James herself and gone willingly. At first. But I wasn't the only one." He crossed his arms across his chest again and huffed.

"I'm not saying I still think that, but it is a remote possibility. And-"

"No, it's not," he said with conviction. "Believe me. She would never trust another doctor. It took her months to get up the courage to go to your mom. She's still nervous around Jeb. She told me stuff that happened. What Burgess did, or planned to do."

"Okay. I believe you." I sighed. "I know you feel bad for her and you care about her-"

"I love her."

Somehow, even though I knew it in the back of my mind, I didn't expect him to say it. He just didn't say stuff like that. It shut me right up.

"And him. I need them both back." His voice cracked ever so slightly.

"And how does she feel about you?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Things have been good, polite, friendly between us. But we haven't really talked. Maybe we're both just afraid of getting hurt. If anything happens to her before I get a chance to tell her how I feel. . . ."

I put my hand on his arm. "We'll get them back. I promise. Burgess had more information for Jeb. Nudge has been on the computer for hours looking for that lab that could be in Fargo. It's all we have to go on. Actually, I was about to get Jump or Dylan to take over for her when Jeb left."

Iggy walked toward the room Nudge was in and I went to find Dylan or Jump. I turned before he was out of earshot.

"I'm just a little overprotective of you, I guess. I'll give her a break."

"Uh huh."

I found Jump first and asked him to relieve Nudge on computer duty. I looked at the clock. Already more than thirty-six hours had passed. Not good.


	23. Chapter 23

*** Thanks JustAnotherCrazyFangirl! Long reviews are just fine by me ha ha. There will be more Dani/Iggy and a whole lot more excitement for the whole flock coming up in future chapters**

**oooOOOOOooo**

Nudge closed her eyes for a second. She was getting a headache from sitting in front of the monitor so long. Hearing someone walk in the room, she opened her eyes and sat up straighter. It was Iggy. She wished she had some good news.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Well, I can tell you the places I've ruled out. But there are still lots more to look into," she said optimistically.

Jump walked in and announced that he was taking over. Nudge wasn't budging.

"Max's orders," Jump informed her. "She said you need a break."

"I'm fine," Nudge lied.

"Look, I'm more afraid of Max than I am of you, so you're leaving if I have to dump you out of your chair."

Iggy laughed. "Be afraid. Be very afraid." He put his hand on Nudge's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "I really appreciate all you're doing, but he's right. Max will kick your butt if you don't take a break."

"All right," she sighed. "Just let me finish this one I'm working on. It'll only take a few more minutes."

With a few clicks of the mouse, she had the information she was looking for. It looked more promising than the other places she had found. She scanned the page and kept scrolling until she was satisfied it was a place they might actually visit. She bookmarked it.

"What do you think of this place? It's an actual lab at least. Not really any place to keep Dani and James, though. It's really small."

Jump pointed at the monitor. "Is that the building it's in?"

"Yes. And keep your fingers off the screen. You're leaving smudges."

"Is there a list of doctor's names?" Jump asked.

Nudge pulled up a page with names and descriptions. "Yeah. I'm printing it out."

Jump leaned in closer. He was trying to read the list.

Nudge elbowed him. "What, do you need glasses or something? Do you have to lean that far forward?"

"He does if he wants to keep looking down your shirt," Iggy deadpanned.

Nudge gasped.

"What? No. I wasn't." Jump protested. "How would you even know? You can't see what I'm doing."

"I was just trying to lighten the mood. Or start a fight. _Anything_ to take my mind off this waiting," Iggy confessed.

Nudge finally relinquished her seat. "I'm sorry," Nudge said to Iggy. "I wish I could snap my fingers and find them. Or at least this other doctor."

Jump was clicking on the different pages Nudge had open as Fang walked in. "What's this?" Jump asked.

"That's the list of businesses in the area by name. But not all of them have an explanation of what type of business," Nudge told him.

He scrolled down and something caught Fang's eye.

"Hold it. Go back up a little. That one." He pointed.

Jump clicked a few times and pulled up another list. Fang scanned it for anything familiar. Finally, he saw something with potential.

"What about that one?" Fang said.

"Genesis United?" Jump asked.

"I thought that was a religious organization," Nudge said.

"Genesis. The origin of life."

Iggy agreed with Nudge, "That sounds religious to me, too"

"United means bringing things together. You know, like recombining DNA, maybe. Combining original life," Fang explained.

"Oh," Nudge said.

"That makes sense, I guess. If they needed to register a name for their lab, but wanted to disguise it somewhat," Jump added.

Iggy asked, "Is there a directory of employees?" Jump told him yes. "Print it out. When Jeb gets back, we can go over the names we have. Hopefully, he'll get more info from Burgess," Iggy said. "In the meantime, we can come up with a game plan. Fargo, that's gonna be a long flight."

Nudge leaned in closer to the screen. "The copyright on this page is three years old. The doctor we're looking for might not be there any more." Re-energized by hope, Nudge turned to Jump. "Why don't we keep looking and see what else we get." She pretended not to notice where he had been looking. She wondered how Iggy knew these things.

Iggy was just happy to have something to do besides sit around and wait.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Piper!" Dr. Gates held out his hand to shake hers. "It's been years. How many?"

"Must be about three by now. How are you?" she asked.

"Please, sit down." He motioned toward a chair across from his desk. "I'm well. What about you? I heard rumors of your being involved in some daring projects."

She smiled. "Well, the past few years have been exciting. I was working under Hans Gunther-Hagen. But now I'm looking for a new collaboration. And I think you'd be perfect."

"I have a job, Piper. It's not glamorous, but it will revolutionize the entire food industry. There's a facility in Los Angeles that's modifying fish to grow faster. If they get FDA approval, it will open the door for us here. Imagine meat products containing omega-3 fatty acids instead of all the saturated fat and cholesterol."

"That's very interesting. How close are you?" She momentarily forgot what she went there for. "I'd love to take a look at your data."

Another doctor knocked as he walked in. "Roger, do you know where Grant put file six thirty-five before he left for vacation?" He turned to the woman sitting in the chair. "Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt."

"I have it," Roger said. "He asked me to check something for him. Are you taking that over while he's gone?"

"Yes, but it's a wait-and-see right now anyway." Roger went to his file cabinet to retrieve the file and handed it to him.

"How rude of me," Dr. Gates said when he realized he hadn't introduced Piper. "Lee, this is Piper Graham. She and I worked together on genetically altered crops, until our project was put on hold. Piper, this is Lee Harper."

"A relation of Stuart?" she asked.

"Distant, but interested in the same subject matter. I'm afraid that I'm not nearly as brilliant as my second cousin." He offered his hand.

Dr. Graham considered asking Dr. Harper to stay as she talked to Roger, then dismissed it. Perhaps if Roger suggested it after she told him her news, they could bring him on board. But for now, she couldn't wait for him to leave.

"Roger, I'm afraid I don't have much time to spend and I really need to talk to you." She turned to Dr. Harper. "You understand, I'm sure," she said and smiled warmly.

"Of course," Dr. Harper said. He waved the file at Roger as he walked out the door. "Thanks."

As soon as the door closed behind him, Dr. Graham started talking.

"Roger, you know those bird kids?"

"Yes, who doesn't?" he answered.

"I have one of them with me. Guarded in my hotel room. Dr. Gunther-Hagen and I cloned and genetically engineered some similar specimens. True chimera." She smiled. "Are you still going to be satisfied with low fat pigs?" she asked.

"What do you mean, you have one with you, guarded? Do you mean against it's will?" Dr. Gates questioned.

"For now. Only to study. She'll be released as soon as possible."

"Piper, you know that's why I didn't join you at Gunther-Hagen's. It's not right keeping people captive." Dr. Gates shook his head.

"I told you, it's just temporary. But the data we can collect-"

"Even temporary captivity is distasteful to most people. I'd be very interested to study her, if it was by her choice," he said.

"But it's okay to keep your animals in small pens, only to be eaten before they turn a year old? Do they have a choice? No, it's for the greater good," she retorted.

"That's not the same. They're animals, not people. That's the nature of the food industry. I can't change that." He didn't like the way she was spinning his words.

"But you can help me change humanity. We can change the human race. Make it stronger in every way. Make us stronger. These kids can see better, heal faster, resist diseases better. And of course, they fly. Some of them can breathe under water."

Dr. Gates shook his head. "It's too unpredictable. Tell me, do they all have the same abilities or are there unexpected variations?"

"Roger, there are always variations even among human siblings. Even in twins. And the variations in these kids all fall within normal parameters. I mean, none of them have beaks in stead of noses or anything like that."

He knew she was right about diversification in siblings. But still, creating chimeras could go terribly wrong if not carefully monitored and controlled. He was extremely curious about the girl Piper had with her.

"I'd like to meet this girl. Talk to her. If I'm convinced she would work with us willingly, I'd be interested in helping you with your research." He paused. "What about genetic compatibility among them? What happens when they plan to reproduce? Their DNA would have to read as the same species or reproduction won't be possible. You can't make a race without it, you know."

She rolled her eyes, then smiled. "Well, that's the part that's so exciting. She has her baby with her. Her spontaneously produced baby, fathered by one of the original School subjects. And so far, he seems perfectly healthy."

The School. Just the mention of it gave him shivers. He had worked there many years ago. He lasted less than a year. The researchers there seemed more interested in creating creatures for their entertainment than for legitimate cause. The only good thing to come out of that experience was his relationship with Valencia. At least until he discovered she donated her own cells to creating the bird kids. He was younger and more idealistic then. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much back then that she could be so detached. He guessed he was afraid if she could create and then abandon a child, that she would never be able to form a real attachment to him. And then there was-what was his name? The one who was always around Valencia. It seemed to be much more than a working relationship. Roger hadn't seen her in over thirteen years. But he could still remember the way her hair smelled.

Shaking off the memories, Roger said, "Okay, you got me. I'm in. When can I see them?" He looked at his watch. "I'm almost officially off for the day."

"My hotel room is just around the corner."

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Any luck?" I asked Jeb.

"Burgess remembered the doctor's name. And a research institute he recalled Dr. Graham visiting. He thinks Dr. Gates was working there at the time." Jeb furrowed his brow.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Jeb shook his head. "Nothing. The name seems familiar, that's all. The Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. It's a place to start."

"Gates was a name on one of the lists we came up with, too. We must be on the right track. How far is San Francisco from here?"

Jeb shrugged. "About a twelve hour drive. An hour and a half or less by plane."

"So about a five or six hour flight for us. If we go at a decent clip and take minimal breaks. Okay, you book a flight we'll meet you there."

"Wait Max, we need a plan first. And we don't even know if she's there. Plus, I still need to tell you all something," Jeb said. I didn't like the sound of that.

We gathered in our great room. The room I liked to call it our 'Okay Room' just to annoy Jeb. There were a lot of nervous looks passed back and forth. Jeb looked quite nervous himself.

"First of all, I want you to know that I gave a great deal of thought in making this decision. I know many of you will not like it. The rest of you will hate it."

_Well, this is off to a great start,_ I thought.

Jeb continued, "We need help. I think we can all agree that this is a mission in which failure is not an option. To that end, I've enlisted the help of someone who can get on the inside. Dr. Burgess. He's going to come with us."

The room practically exploded in protests, questions and accusations. Obviously, my flock didn't even know him, but, as a general rule, we didn't trust whitecoats. And the other kids seemed either terrified or angry. Miranda was the only one that didn't have something to say. My guess was that she already knew. Maybe she and Jeb talked about it on the way back from their visit.

Jeb held his hands up to quiet us down. "I know how you all feel. But Dr. Burgess knows Dr. Graham and he can get a lot closer to her than any of us can. And he's the best shot we have of getting into the medical center."

"How do we know he's not just going to take them himself, or join Dr. Graham?" Fang asked what we were all thinking.

"We'll have plenty of safeguards in place to keep the reins on Dr. Burgess. Angel and John can monitor his thoughts. Robert, Malcolm, and Nicholas will be watching him around the clock." Jeb answered.

"Wait, what about my mom? Who's going to watch her if her bodyguards are with us?"

"I'm coming, too." Mom was standing in the doorway. This was turning into quite the operation. "Actually, I'm going to leave in the morning with Dr. Burgess and my body guards and scope it out before you get there."

I walked to her for a quick hug. "Mom, these people mean business. It's too dangerous."

"It'll be fine. I'm just going to visit an old friend. At least, that's how it will appear," Mom said.

It looked like a light bulb went on over Jeb's head. "Gates worked at The School, didn't he? Is that how I know his name?"

"Yes. He and I were doing clinical research together for several months. Until he discovered what his research was to be used for. We kept in touch for a couple of years, but I haven't seen him in over thirteen years. I hope he remembers me." She laughed.

"How could anyone forget you?" Jeb asked.

There was that weird feeling again. The one where I know there's more to the story, but I really don't want to know. 'Cause, eeeww, it's Jeb.

Okay, time to go into leader mode and start delegating.

"Nudge, get back on the computer and pull up blueprints of the building. I'm sure there's a security system, see if you can figure out how to disable it. Gazzy, you should help her with that. You also might want to study the layout in case you have to set any 'surprises'. Just to protect our escape route. But don't-I repeat-don't blow up the building. These aren't a bunch of evil scientists, just slightly depraved scientists."

"Fang, map out our route, with a few stops along the way. I don't want to wing it," I smiled. "Get it? I crack me up."

"You're not flying, Max," Jeb said. "Well, yes, you will be, but in a plane." Before I could protest he put his hand up and continued. "It will be much faster and you won't all be exhausted when you get there."

"Really? We're all going to go to the airport and get on a plane. That's just asking for trouble. Besides being mega expensive."

"The CSM is going to let us use their jet," Mom said. "I'll fly out in the morning with Dr. Burgess, Malcolm, Robert and Nicholas." She turned to Jeb. "I was thinking it would also be a good idea to take Angel and John with me, posing as my children. Angel could help us get past any difficult checkpoints."

"Couldn't I just make the doctor give us Dani and the baby?" Angel asked.

"That would be ideal, but you have to get close enough first. And you won't be able to control everybody. There will probably be several guards," Mom said.

"Somebody might recognize Angel. Our pictures have been on the internet," Fang said. "And Dr. Graham definitely will know John."

"I can disguise myself," Angel suggested.

My mom nodded. "Okay, just Angel then. And maybe Dylan and Fang, on the off chance we need to fight our way out. The jet will come back for the rest of you." She turned to Nudge. "Nudge, while you're on the computer, can you look up hotels in the area? We're going to need several rooms."

"Rooms? If I have my way, we'll be flying back with them tomorrow night," I said.

"Max, I hope that happens, but you have to be realistic. Even if we do find them right away, the jet only has room for twelve at a time. Nudge, we need four rooms," Jeb added.

The rest of the evening, we assigned jobs for everyone and came up with a back story for my mom and Dr. Burgess. We agreed they would pose as a new couple that met through her veterinary clinic. He would say he was interested in a job. That would hopefully get them in the door, as Dr. Burgess had excellent credentials. Mom would oh, so, casually notice that her old friend Roger was on the staff. That might get them in to see Dr. Gates. Mentioning that he previously worked with Dr. Graham shouldn't raise any suspicions. If she was there, or nearby, with any luck, he would lead us right to her. It was a lot of ifs and hopefullys. Therefore, the need for a kick-butt back up plan. And that's when the arguing started.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	24. Chapter 24

**oooOOOOOooo**

The door handle turned as a key jiggled in the lock. As the door began to open, Dani heard a familiar voice.

"It's Dr. Graham, don't eat me."

The erasers had fortunately been remaining in human form as they guarded Dani. In her present state, she was little threat to them. Dr. Graham had been smart enough fashion a pair of rubber insulated gloves for Dani that she couldn't get off. Though, to Dani, not being able to touch James with her hands was worse than not being able to use her power to try to get away.

Dr. Graham and Dr. Gates walked through the door of the hotel room.

"Don't eat me?" Dr. Gates asked.

Dr. Graham waved it off. "Just a little inside joke," she said. She wasn't ready to explain them. The erasers shrunk back into the corner of the room, sat down at the small table and took out a deck of cards.

Dr. Gates eyed Dani up and down. She looked like a perfectly normal teenaged girl to him. Except for the rubber gloves.

"Danielle, this is Dr. Gates. He's an expert in," Dr. Graham was searching for less scientific terms, "hybrids, such as yourself."

"Well, not exactly," Dr. Gates said. "I've never worked with humans, just different animals. But I would love the opportunity to study you, if that would be okay."

"It's not like I have a choice."

"Yes, you do," he said. "I won't examine you if you don't want me to."

Dani tried to size up this new doctor. "If I let you, examine me, ask me some questions, maybe even take blood or something, will you get her to let me go?" she said in a hushed voice.

He glanced at Dr. Graham. "I'll see what I can do."

"Do you want to see my wings? That's what most people are interested in." Dani asked. She turned around and relaxed them so he could see the intricate pattern of spots and stripes. He gently stroked the downy feathers near the top.

"This is remarkable. And you can really fly? Like that first group? What is your wingspan?" He had a thousand questions about her wings, but there were so many other things he wanted to ask her as well.

"Twelve and a half feet. They're not as big as some of the others because I'm not as tall. And, yes, I can fly," she said.

"The others. How many others? Do they all have wings?" He asked excitedly.

"Not part of the bargain. You can only ask questions about me," Dani noted. "What else do you want to know?"

Dr. Gates addressed his next question toward Dr. Graham. "What's with the gloves?"

Dr. Graham stepped forward. "She has an ability to emit an electric pulse. A fairly strong one. The gloves are a precaution."

"I see," Dr. Gates said. "What other special abilities do you have?"

Dani explained all of her extraordinary skills and let the doctor give her a cursory examination. He told her that he didn't have the instruments to take blood samples with him, but that he would like her to go to his medical facility the next day. Dr. Gates didn't want to appear too eager, so he tried to mention the baby as if it were an afterthought.

"How old are you, Danielle?" he asked.

She hesitated. "I'm, about seventeen, sort of. I was cloned about, what, four years ago?" She looked to Dr. Graham for confirmation.

"Slightly more," Dr. Graham added.

Dr. Gates played his card. "So young to be a parent." He paused. "Would it be okay if I saw the baby?" Dani didn't answer. He asked for what he really wanted. "If I've overstayed my welcome here, maybe you'll bring him tomorrow?"

Dr. Graham smiled. "She wouldn't go anywhere without him."

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm Ted Burgess. I have an appointment with Dr. Harper," Dr. Burgess said with a smile.

The receptionist typed on her keyboard, then said, "Have a seat please. He'll be right with you."

Dr. Burgess, Valencia and Angel sat in the waiting area. Angel was sporting dark hair and eyes and was a good match for Valencia. They appeared to be a family considering a new job and relocation to anyone else in the waiting room. They scouted the office for a directory.

Valencia whispered, "Dr. Burgess, I'm going to go look in the lobby. Angel and I are going to pretend to need a bathroom."

Dr. Burgess leaned close. "You keep forgetting to call me Ted."

"Sorry. Ted. We'll be right back."

Angel gave him a look as she passed that said _I'll be listening_. With Fang and Dylan in a cafe across the street and Malcolm, Nicholas and Robert placed strategically outside the building, Ted wasn't going anywhere. His only way out was to see the plan through.

In a matter of minutes, Valencia and Angel returned, successful.

"There's a directory right by the elevators. Roger's name is on it. That's one hurdle down."

The receptionist popped her head in the door. "Dr. Burgess? Dr. Harper is ready for you." The three of them rose. "Perhaps your wife and daughter wouldn't mind waiting here?"

"Oh, I thought this a rather informal interview. Can they not accompany me? They have as much a stake in this as I do," Ted said, thinking quickly on his feet.

The receptionist was caught off guard. "Um, okay." She didn't know what to say. No one had ever brought their family to an interview before. Oh well, she figured it would be Dr. Harper's problem. "Follow me." She led them to a glass door stenciled with the doctor's name. Valencia surreptitiously checked the cell phone in her pocket. Fang's cell phone was on speed dial in case they ran into trouble while inside the medical center.

The receptionist knocked, then opened the door for them, but didn't walk in herself. She stood there long enough to announce them and closed the door behind her.

Dr. Harper stood with a puzzled look on his face and held out his hand, "Dr. Burgess?" They shook briefly. "Would your family be more comfortable in the waiting room?"

"As I've explained to your receptionist, I consider this more of a preliminary meeting than an interview. I was hoping to familiarize myself with the research you do here, perhaps get a tour. And then, if it seems a good fit, we could meet privately to discuss my qualifications and experience as well as salary requirements."

Dr. Harper gestured for them to sit. There were only two chairs, leaving Angel to stand. She took the opportunity to look carefully around the room, reading the book spines, and degrees and awards hanging on the wall. "Um, well, it's a little unusual, but not a problem."

Dr. Harper went on to explain the breakthrough hybridization techniques the center was using to improve crops. Ted asked enough questions of his own to leave little doubt in Dr. Harper's mind that he was qualified for the position available. Actually, he was much more than qualified.

When it was time for the tour, Dr. Harper once again tried to dissuade Valencia and Angel from accompanying them.

"I'm afraid visiting the labs may not be very exciting for your daughter. It's going to be fairly far over her head," he said, hoping Valencia would take the hint.

She thought it would be a good time to mention Roger's name. Maybe Dr. Harper would be happy enough to get rid of them that he would pawn them off on Roger. "You may be right. I happen to notice that an old friend of mine is listed on your directory. I wonder if there's any chance I might be able to pay him a quick visit."

Dr. Harper looked relieved. "Oh, who is your friend?"

"Roger Gates. Though I haven't seen him in many years."

"I'm sorry. I think Roger took the afternoon off." Dr. Harper looked at his watch. "Hmm. He may not have left yet. He's quite popular today. He had two other visitors earlier," Harper joked.

Dr. Martinez and Dr. Burgess tried not to look as taken aback as they felt. "Do you think you could find out for me? I'd love to catch up with him." Dr. Martinez said with a smile. Her heart was going a mile a minute. She didn't know how the flock carried out their covert operations. She was suddenly a nervous wreck.

_Do you think the visitors were Dani and Dr. Graham?_ Valencia never had Angel in her head before and flinched.

As they passed the receptionist's desk, the doctor asked her to page Dr. Gates. He then continued to walk Dr. Burgess to a set of doors marked SECURITY CLEARANCE ONLY. Dr. Harper slid his card through the electronic scanner and the two of them disappeared through the doors.

Valencia took out her cell phone and placed a call to Fang. She warned him that Dani was possibly either in the building or had been earlier. She suggested he and Dylan be prepared to find Roger's house in case she missed him. She checked her watch. The rest of the flock and Jeb wouldn't be touching down for at least another hour. She wished they were there already.

"Valencia," Roger said slowly. "Is that you?"

Valencia turned toward him and gave a quick glance at Angel. Angel knew to get inside his head and check him out. Roger looked much different than the last time she saw him. He had been a young, idealistic scientist with visions of changing the world, mainly by finding new ways to feed the poor around the globe. Back then, he was a by product of his parents' hippie ways-long hair, sneakers instead of dress shoes, and tie dyed t-shirts on the weekends. The man that stood before her was obviously older, but aging well. His hair was cropped short with a few stray grays at the temple and his eyes were surrounded by fine lines when he smiled, but they were the same kind eyes she remembered. When she noticed that he still wore sneakers with his dress pants, she grinned.

"Roger, I'm so happy to see you. You look well." They shared an awkward hug. "I had no idea you were on the West Coast," she lied.

"What are you doing here? Are you looking for a job?" he asked.

"No. I have a veterinary practice. My, um, fiancée is interviewing," she said. She thought she was a little too old to use the word boyfriend, but she realized too late that she didn't have a ring to back up the lie. She noticed him quickly take a peek at her hand.

"Congratulations. So, you're planning to relocate?" He looked at his watch. "I'm afraid I have somewhere I need to be right now, but we'll have to catch up." He took a business card out of his wallet and handed it to her. "Soon, I hope." She looked just as lovely as she had all those years ago, but something told him it wasn't a coincidence that she was showing up at his office a day after Dr. Graham. He turned to leave.

Angel tugged on Valencia's sleeve. She whispered, "He's suspicious." Valencia wasn't sure what to do. Should she let him leave and hope Fang and Dylan would be able to follow him? Or should she take a chance and lay her cards on the table? She had always known him to be a good, moral man. But people change.

"Okay then. Soon," she called to him.

"He thinks you're lovely," Angel said. "He was also wondering why you weren't wearing a ring. And why you showed up here today."

"I know, I messed that up," Dr. Martinez said. She got on her cell phone again. "Fang, there's a man coming out of the building. Short brown hair, sneakers, navy blue blazer, no tie." Fang saw him. "That's our guy, follow him. I'll wait for Ted to come back out."

_What's taking him so long?_ she thought.

She and Angel waited another twenty minutes, then called Ted's cell phone. It went right to voice mail. Something was wrong. Valencia contacted Robert, Malcolm and Nicholas, but none of them saw Dr. Burgess leave and they had been covering all the exits. The two of them were about to make their own exit when Angel suddenly realized the handsome man who walked into the waiting room was an eraser. There was nowhere for them to go but through him. He grinned a pointy toothed grin.

In a gravely voice, he said, "You can come with me or be ripped to shreds. Your choice." He also had a gun pointed at them under a jacket draped over his arm. They chose to go with him.

As they walked through the security door and down the hall, Dr. Martinez managed to hit the speed dial button. Even though she wasn't able to actually speak to the person on the other end, the message would be clear. She and Angel were in trouble.

The eraser stopped in front of a door marked LIVE SUBJECTS. He grinned at Angel. "That won't work on me little girl. I can feel you in there." And he tapped his head. "And I'll take your cell phone, doctor."

He opened the door, pushed them inside and closed the door behind them. Dr. Burgess lay on the floor unconscious. At least they hoped he was only unconscious.

"Ted." Dr. Martinez shook him gently. "Ted, are you okay?" She felt the pulse in his neck and looked at Angel. "He's alive. But he's no help to us. We have to figure out how to get out of here."

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Hello? Dr. Martinez? Hello!"

"What's wrong?" Dylan asked Fang.

"Max's mom called but she's not answering. I can hear muffled talking and footsteps I think." Into the phone, he yelled, "Valencia! Are you there?" Suddenly, the phone call ended.

"Damn!" Fang screamed. "Call Jeb. Tell him we lost contact with Max's mom. I'll call Robert and see if he's seen them. Now instead of two hostages, they have five. This couldn't have gone any worse."

"Wanna bet?" Standing in front of them were two full blown erasers.

One of them knocked Dylan's phone out of his hand and it flew across the street, shattering. As Dylan watched the impact, the eraser took the chance to punch him in the side of his head. He tried to shake it off, but was left seeing stars. Going on instinct, Dylan punched, kicked and blocked until a lucky shot sent the eraser headlong into an SUV. The SUV won that battle as Dylan heard the snap of bones and the eraser lay on the ground. Fang was holding his own against the other eraser, sustaining only a deep scratch across his neck and a bruised jaw. When that eraser saw that the odds were now two to one, he cut and ran. His mission was accomplished-distracting the two boys long enough for Dr. Gates to get away.

"My phone's toast," Dylan said. "How's yours?"

"Mine's fine. I'll call Robert first, then Jeb. They should have touched down by now."

None of the bodyguards had seen Valencia, Ted or Angel come out of the building. At least they knew where they were. If need be, the five of them could force their way into the building, but it could be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Jeb suggested Fang and Dylan meet the rest of them at the hotel, while Robert, Malcolm and Nicholas keep their posts, in case any of the hostages come out.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks to the few reading :)**

**oooOOOOOooo**

"It seemed to be going fine, until Dr. Martinez called saying she couldn't get a hold of Dr. Burgess," Dylan informed everyone.

"Did she make contact with Gates?" Jeb asked.

"Yeah. She described him and told us to follow. He was on his phone. My guess is, he wasn't buying the coincidence that she just happened to be there and turned her in. Especially if Dr. Graham got to him first," Fang explained. "We lost him when the erasers showed up."

"At least you got rid of one," I said. He winced when I touched his neck wound with the hydrogen peroxide soaked cotton ball. "Sorry."

"Maybe. Maybe not. He went down, but I didn't check him. We just left," Dylan said.

"I can't believe Angel got kidnapped again!" the Gasman yelled. He looked at me. "And your mom. What is it with those two?"

"At least they're together. And Dr. Burgess is with them. Which, hopefully is good," I said. "We can still stick to the plan. If we can rescue two people, we can rescue five."

"Do we really have to rescue Dr. Burgess?" Jump said under his breath. I ignored him.

"So, who's going in?" Nudge asked. "Angel was supposed to so she could get the person at the desk to let us through the security door."

I had a brilliant thought. "Nudge, you go. Maybe you can open the door. The lock is probably metal." I turned to Jeb. "Don't you think?"

"If someone can distract the front desk, Nudge might be able to open it," Jeb said. "Who would make a good distraction for the receptionist?"

We pretty much all looked at Dylan at the same time.

"What. Why me?" he asked.

"Seriously?" Even little Sunny saw the wisdom in that.

We were set, with four teams of three or four each-one team to monitor the exits (Robert, Malcolm and Nicholas), one to go in the front door (lead by our distractor, Dylan, with Nudge and Fang), one for covert entry (Me, Gazzy and Jump), and one team to find and follow Dr. Gates, in case our friends weren't in the Center anymore (Jeb, John, Sunny and Miranda). I was very nearly starving at that point and I guessed everyone else was, too. Rescuing on an empty stomach wouldn't go over well. We ordered in Chinese and had some sandwiches delivered to the guys still standing watch outside the Center. The sub shop thought it was a prank call until Jeb gave them his credit card number.

"Max," Iggy approached me. "You forgot to put me on a team."

"Um." What could I say? I was afraid he would let his heart rather than his head lead him. I tried to think of an excuse other than that I thought he was too close to it. I got nothin'. "I didn't forget. I thought maybe you should sit this one out."

"No way," he said. "I'm going."

"You're too emotional." That's something he wasn't called often.

"And you're not? Your mom is in there. And what about Gazzy? He's not emotional about his sister? How come you both get to go in there?" Iggy was really angry. And then he played his trump card. "Would you still keep me out if I could see?"

"Yes," I snapped. "And if that's what you think I think of you, then I definitely wouldn't let you go. Because that was a lousy thing to say."

We both crossed our arms over our chests and huffed.

"I _need_ to be there," Iggy said quietly.

I uncrossed my arms. "Okay. You're with me. And not because I don't trust you, but because I do. I know you'll have my back."

"It's show time folks!" I yelled.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dylan strode up to the desk and put on his brightest smile. Before he even got close, the young receptionist's heart skipped a beat. When he reached the desk, he leaned over and rested on the heels of his hands and simply said, "Hello."

"Can I, uh, help you?" she had a hard time getting the words out.

"I hope so. My uncle asked me to pick up some paper work. He gave me his badge and I kind of left it at home. I don't want him to know. He already thinks I'm a screw up." He flashed his mega watt smile at her again.

"Oh, I'm really not supposed to let anyone in without an appointment." She couldn't help returning the smile.

"I know. And I don't want you to get into any trouble. It's just that I'm hoping to intern here and I'm afraid they'll turn me down if my uncle doesn't give me recommendation." He paused. "Do you like working here?"

"It's okay," she smiled. "I do get to meet a lot of interesting people."

"You have a great smile. What's your name?"

"Um, Roxanne," she answered and blushed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dylan could see Nudge and Fang stealthily making their way to an alcove near the electronic door. He held up a finger for them to wait.

"That's a pretty name," he said.

She giggled. "Thanks." She glanced around. "I guess it won't hurt for me to buzz you in if your uncle works here. I'd hate for you to lose your internship." She smiled. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Jacob. Thank you so much for doing this." He gave a thumbs up behind his back. He leaned just a little bit closer. "Maybe I'll run into you again, Roxanne." Roxanne watched him as he walked toward the door. She pushed the buzzer and hoped he would look back before he went through. He obliged her and gave her a wink, then disappeared through the door. She leaned back in her chair and sighed.

Fang and Nudge waited for Dylan to open the door and sneak them in.

"Laying it on a little thick, weren't you, _Jacob_?" Fang asked when they got in.

"It got us in, didn't it?" Dylan replied. "What, I can't have a little fun?"

Nudge rolled her eyes and tugged on Dylan's shirt. "C'mon, Romeo, we need to go down this hall. Max and the others are waiting for us to let them in."

**oooOOOOOooo**

We waited nervously by the basement window well. Fang's face finally appeared and he unlocked and slid it across. Malcolm was standing guard outside in case somebody saw. Jump, Iggy, Gazzy and I all piled in through the window. Good thing we were so skinny or we never would have fit.

"We should split up so we can cover more rooms," I suggested. "If I was smart, I would split you two up," I said to Gazzy and Iggy.

They got into trouble everywhere they went, but they made a great team. Gazzy was the eyes and Iggy, the ears. Besides, I wanted Jump with me. He would be able to communicate with Angel if we were close to her. In the stairwell we found stairs that led to another lower level.

"Nudge, go with Dylan and Fang and check out the upstairs offices and labs," I suggested, well, ordered.

To Gazzy and Iggy I said, "You two take this level. Jump and I will go downstairs. If I was going to keep someone captive, I'd do it in the basement. If you find any of them, just get them out. Don't keep looking. If you don't find them, get yourselves out. Don't bother coming back down here, get out any door. We can't afford for them to have any more hostages." Yeah, right, like they were going to listen to that. "Okay, let's move!"

Jump and I quietly went down the dark stairs and listened at the door. Peeking around the corner, it looked like an insane asylum. White walls, doors with tiny windows, black and white checked floor that looked straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

"Can you feel anything?" I whispered to Jump.

"Lots. It's all jumbled up, though. A lot of different emotions," he said.

Before I could ask another question, one of the doors opened and an attractive man walked out, dragging Angel by the arm. We had the element of surprise on our side. The eraser didn't have a chance to morph , or even plant his feet before Jump and I were on him like white on rice. Angel and I took a brief second to hug.

"They took your mom away a little while ago," Angel informed me.

"Do you know where?" I asked

"I think to see Dani," I took Angel by the arm as we headed for the stairwell.

"Wait," Angel said. "Dr. Burgess is in there." She pointed to the room she had been in.

"We can't get in," I said. "The doors lock automatically and we don't have a card key." She looked disappointed. "We'll come back for him if we can, I promise."

We got back to the window we came in and I hoisted Angel up and out. I was almost out when Jump said he could feel something.

"It's fear. That's what I feel. It has to be them, right? Who else would be afraid?" He looked up as if seeing through the ceiling.

"If it's coming from upstairs, The others will find them. Let's go. I want you to get out of here. I'll go." Angel was tugging on my arm.

"Max, get out! I'm not letting you go back in," she cried.

Jump started for the stairwell. "I'll be able to tell if I'm getting closer, you won't. If I don't find them right away, I'll get out." And he disappeared.

Dang it!

Angel was still pulling me away from the building. Across the parking lot, I could see Jeb and his team, mostly staying out of sight. I grabbed Angel's hand and ran to them.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	26. Chapter 26

*** Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans :)**

* * *

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Roger, please don't do this. Don't help her do this," Valencia begged.

Roger looked from Dr. Graham to Dr. Martinez to Dani. He was holding James in one arm and a gun in the other. He didn't look comfortable holding either.

"You're quite the hypocrite, aren't you, Dr. Martinez?" Dr. Graham remarked. "You were on the ground floor in creating these children. You're a mother to one of them. Yet you didn't even bother raising her."

"They kept her away from me. I didn't even know she existed until a few years ago." Dr. Martinez protested. "Please don't keep Dani away from her baby."

"Roger, you know this is bigger than one little girl. Think about what it will mean for millions," Dr. Graham said.

Roger stood, conflicted. He knew right from wrong. Or at least he thought he did. But Piper was extremely persuasive. Her argument for a better humanity was compelling if not flawless.

"One little girl can make a big difference," Dr. Martinez countered. "Look at what Max has done. She's exposed many environmental hazards, brought attention to the evil doings of Itex and ended the By-Half plan. She's just one little girl."

Roger thought for a second. "But she's a very special little girl. She's exactly what were going to create. People who can make a difference."

"To what end? If there are two races of people living together and one of them has all the power, what will happen to the other, the regular people? What always happens when one group of people has power over another?"

Roger remained silent. He knew where she was going.

"Slavery," Dr. Martinez finally said. "Or worse. Genocide. People like her." She motioned her head in Dr. Graham's direction. "People who think they're better than everyone else and want to get rid of anyone they deem inferior. You know I'm right."

Dr. Graham broke in. "That's human nature. Survival of the fittest. The smarter and stronger rule the weaker. Somebody has to be in charge. It should be the superior. Too many shortsighted, unintelligent people in the world have power. That's what's wrong with the world." She paused. "Besides, the By-Half plan is still very much viable. Your daughter managed to push it back, but not destroy it."

"Roger, Dr. Gunther-Hagen was so close in his research. If Max and her friends hadn't driven him into hiding, we may have figured it out by now. He was able to give ordinary people the ability to heal themselves, among other things. By studying this baby's DNA, we can finish what Dr. Gunther-Hagen started. Think about it. We could bring an end to Aids, malaria, diabetes, cancer."

Dr. Martinez was afraid she was losing the debate. She had to keep it personal.

"Dani is one little girl. You have the power right now to decide her fate. She could be like Max and help save the planet. Maybe even cooperate in genetic research. If you give her son back to her. And let her live as normal a life as she can. But if you make an enemy of her, you may find out how much damage one little girl can do. You'll always be looking over your shoulder. Fearing for your life. Because, she has the ability to hurt or even kill you. You do know that she killed Dr. Gunther-Hagen, don't you?"

"What?" Roger looked puzzled. "He died in a lab accident. Some electrical equipment went haywire."

"And why do you think Dani's wearing rubber gloves?" Dr. Martinez asked rhetorically. "You'll have to go into hiding, like the kids do. Hunted. Away from everything you know. You'll be afraid to go out to grab a cup of coffee. The flock didn't stop until they found Hans. They won't stop until they find you." She let that sink in. "Then there's your guilty conscience. Knowing you kept a baby from its mother's love. Kept a young mother away from her child. And a young father. For what? Plans that may never come to fruition?" Dr. Martinez felt a pang of guilt of her own. She thought of Ella, raised without her father. She realized with sudden clarity that even though her intentions weren't malevolent, she was guilty of the exact crime of which she was now accusing Roger. The exact crime of which Jeb was guilty of committing against her. Where was it going to end?

"Valencia, I'm sorry Jeb kept you from Max. But would she be the same person if she wasn't raised the way she was?" Roger asked.

"No. But who's to say she wouldn't be just as strong and independent. There's no way of knowing." Dr. Martinez said.

"We're all a product of our environment. Max is who she is because of it." Roger pointed out.

"So that makes it okay to raise kids in dog crates? I wonder if you would feel the same way if it was your child?" Valencia asked. She had to make it personal for him if she was going to persuade him. "What if you found out you had a child that was raised in a lab, in horrible conditions, then tossed out to live on the streets. What if she had to fight for her life on a daily basis? Would you think it was okay because it made her strong? Or would you think you could have helped her achieve her potential, with loving care?"

"I don't know," Roger answered honestly. " That's a moot point anyway."

"We don't have time for this Roger," Dr. Graham interrupted. "You need to decide what you're going to do. Either way, I'm taking that baby with me. I can see the bigger picture."

"I have another daughter, you know," Valencia began. "Not the little girl I brought with me. She's one of the flock. My other daughter is home. She's beautiful and smart, strong and independent. In many ways, she's like Max, without genetic engineering." She paused, gathering courage. "I've been raising her myself. Her father doesn't even know she exists. I thought I was doing a good job. I thought a mother's love was enough." She looked Roger in the eye. "I was wrong. She did need her father. Does need him. She's thirteen and she needs her father's love."

"Oh my God. Roger, we really don't have time for this sentimental crap." Dr. Graham said. "We need to go now."

Roger stood silently, looking between the two women. Valencia could only hope that he was putting it all together. Hope that he would make the right choice.

"All right, Piper. Let's go," Roger sighed. Valencia let out the breath she'd been holding. She fought the tears trying to come to her eyes.

Dr. Graham opened the door. The eraser standing guard stood waiting for instructions. "Lead the way," she told him.

They walked down the hallway, then into the stairwell, the eraser in the lead, followed by Dr. Graham, Valencia, Dani and finally Dr. Gates. They continued up two dimly lit flights of stairs until they reached the main level and a set of two doors.

"This door leads to the exit facing the park entrance," Dr. Gates said. He pointed to the other door. "That one leads to the lab. I should really pick up some of my equipment. And my data. Most of it is on my laptop in the lab."

Dr. Graham contemplated whether or not they should risk going to the lab. She decided against it.

"No, it's too risky. We need to get out of here now," she said and motioned for the eraser to push the door open. The door opened to a hallway instead of the outside. For a split second, the eraser was confused. That was all Fang needed to strike the first blow. He, Dylan and Nudge had been trying to find their way out when the door in front of them suddenly opened. Dr. Gates pushed open the other door. He only had time to shove Dani and Valencia through, toward the park entrance before Dr. Graham pulled him back. By then, the eraser had morphed and was laying into Fang. Nudge joined in and started kicking the eraser from behind, but in the small stairwell, it was difficult to maneuver. Fang couldn't avoid the sharp claws and sustained multiple gashes. Nudge finally got a good, hard kick to the eraser's knee. He buckled and went down. There, they beat him unconscious. Meanwhile, Dylan had grabbed Dr. Graham. She struggled against him with all her strength, though she was no match for him.

Dr. Gates stood, paralyzed by what he had just witnessed, still holding James and the gun.

"What the hell is that thing?" he asked.

"Modern science at its best," Dylan answered. "What? Never seen a wolf hybrid before?"

"Why?" Dr. Gates addressed Dr. Graham. "Why would you do that? How can wolf people-

"Erasers," Nudge corrected.

"-help any body?"

"They make great body guards. Or armies," Fang suggested.

"Or slaves?" Roger added.

Dr. Graham scowled at Roger. "You had a chance for glory. Why did you let them get away? You deliberately told me the wrong door. What if I had decided we needed your laptop?"

"Then they still would have gone through the right door. And they'd still get away," he said.

"But why? We can change the world. We could make it better. Why would you ruin it?" she asked him.

Roger handed the baby to Nudge. "Because Valencia was right. A super race will lead to a power struggle. And when ordinary people lose, they'll be wiped out. All that will be left will be the super race. A level playing field once again. And it will start all over again. Where will it end? Humanity will just have to evolve in its own time. As it always has. As it should."

Roger took off his badge and handed it to Fang. "You'll need this. Dr. Burgess is in room G2. Two flights down. The little girl was down there, too, but they moved her. I don't know where she is."

"Where are you going?" Nudge asked.

"To turn myself in. This is the way out," he said.

The door to the hallway opened and Jump walked through.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys," he said. "You have the baby? Where's Dani and Max's mom?"

"They got out already," Fang answered. To Nudge he said, "Get him out of here. You guys go."

"We all have to get out of here. We're the last ones left inside. Max got Angel out." Jump informed them. "Gazzy told me he brought a smoke bomb. And I'm pretty sure I saw another one in his pack, too."

**oooOOOOOooo**

Mom and Dani made it out of the center and were running toward the rest of us. We all watched as the back door opened again. Dr. Gates stepped out into the sunlight and squinted. He raised his arm up to shield his face and I could see that he had something in his hand. I heard somebody shout that he had a gun. Robert stepped out of the shadows and leveled his weapon at him.

"No!" my Mom screamed. "Don't shoot!"

It was too late. Roger stumbled and fell flat on his belly screeching in pain. Mom ran to him.

"Somebody help me!" she yelled. Jeb and I went to her side.

Mom was frantic. Roger was bleeding profusely from a bullet wound to his leg. At least Robert didn't aim to kill.

"He was helping us. He had the baby in his arms. We have to find out what happened. Jeb, can you stop the bleeding?"

Just then, Nudge, carrying James, and Dylan, holding Dr. Graham burst through the door. Dylan almost tripped over Roger's feet. Dani ran to Nudge and scooped up the baby in her now ungloved hands. Malcolm approached Dr. Graham with a set of handcuffs and took her back to the flock standing at the edge of the tree-lined park.

"We need to move Roger away from the building," Mom said. "He's going into shock. He's unconscious. Somebody call 911." We moved him to a shady spot in the grass. Jeb took out a pocket knife and cut open his pant leg, then took off his jacket and laid it over Roger. Mom frantically tried to control Roger's bleeding.

"I can't stop the bleeding. I think the bullet hit his femoral artery." Mom was visibly shaking. "He's only got minutes if we can't stop the bleeding. He won't make it to the hospital."

While they elevated his legs, I had a thought. "Dylan, can you heal him? Stop the bleeding?"

"I don't know. I've never tried to heal anyone else."

"It's worth a shot isn't it, Mom?"

She shook her head. "The bullet has to come out first. He'll bleed even faster. If Dylan can't do it, he'll die for sure."

Jeb put a hand on her shoulder, "He'll die anyway if he doesn't at least try."

"How do we get the bullet out?" I asked. Jeb took out his pocket knife again.

"Is it metal?" Nudge asked.

"Nudge, you're a genius. Can you pull it out?" Mom asked.

"I think so."

"Dylan get ready. As soon as the bullet is out of the way, you'll need to put your finger in the wound. As deep as you can," Mom told him. I was suddenly glad that I didn't have magic spit. "Go, Nudge!"

The bullet rose out of Roger's leg and into Nudge's hand. Dylan spit a huge disgusting gob into the bullet hole, then stuck his finger in. At first it was hard to tell if it was working and Dylan repeated his efforts over and over. Finally, the bleeding appeared to stop and the skin on top was crudely knit together.

I heard the faint sound of an ambulance in the distance. "Help is coming." I heard my mother tell Roger. "Hold on. I have so much more to tell you."

Huh? Like what?

Dr. Burgess came through the door yelling so hysterically, we couldn't tell what he was saying. He was out of breath from running.

"Did he say something about a bomb?" Sunny asked.

I looked around and realized for the first time that Gazzy and Iggy weren't with us. I specifically said no bombs, didn't I?

**oooOOOOOooo**

(back inside the building, a few minutes earlier)

"I was about to go downstairs and get Dr. Burgess. You come with me." Fang told Jump.

Fang started down the stairs and stopped when he realized that Jump wasn't following. He was standing at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed.

"Come on! We have to hurry," Fang yelled. "We don't know how long that eraser is going to be out. Or if Gazzy is gonna set off those bombs."

"Whatever Burgess gets, he's got coming," Jump said.

"Can we discuss his punishment later?" Fang waved his hand for Jump to follow. "Like him or not, he was trying to help us. We can't just leave him."

Reluctantly, Jump followed Fang down to the room where Dr. Burgess was being held. Fang swiped Dr. Gates' card through the card reader. They found him conscious but groggy. He was sporting nasty cuts on his cheek and a huge purple and green bruise across his face. No doubt left by an eraser.

"Did the little girl get away?" he asked.

"Yes, they all did. Can you walk?" Fang asked him.

"I think so. I'm a little dizzy though," Dr. Burgess said. "I'm surprised you came back for me," he said to Jump.

"Wasn't my idea." Jump opened the door to leave and came face to face with the eraser. He ducked just in time as the eraser threw a punch his way. He came back up and punched the eraser in the gut. His stomach was surprisingly hard and it didn't seem to hurt the eraser much. Jump took a sharp blow to the chest, that knocked the wind out of him and made a cracking noise. He was no match for the eraser, and he knew it. He felt another blow. This time it hit him square in the face, breaking his nose. Jump went down hard and hit his chin on the floor, clamping his teeth together on his lip. The pain almost made him lose consciousness. All this happened in the time it took Fang to reach them and begin his own assault on the eraser. He wished he had taken the gun from Dr. Gates.

Without warning, the erasers eyes went wide as a loud thunking sound filled the room. He sank to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Dr. Burgess was standing behind him holding a small microscope. The twenty-five pound piece of equipment made a handy and deadly weapon against even an eraser skull.

"I guess you can walk okay," Fang said.

"That was just the shot of adrenaline I needed," the doctor laughed.

Fang leaned over Jump. "You okay? Can you get up?"

Jump spit blood on the floor and sat up. Fang extended a hand and pulled him up. His right eye was practically swollen shut and his lip and nose were still dripping blood everywhere.

"Yeah, I'm good. Let's go." Jump said through a swollen mouth. He shook his head, trying to clear his fogginess. That only won him a headache.

As they walked through the door, they heard a boom coming from somewhere above them. The alarm system went on.

Fang turned to the doctor. "How long can you hold your breath?"

"What? Why?"

"A smoke bomb just went off and we have to go up two flights to get out. And there may be another bomb." Fang told him. "Run!" The doctor held his breath and headed up the stairs.

Jump tried to take in a deep breath but the pain was too much. He was feeling dizzy again.

"I think he broke my rib or something. Go, get out. I'm gonna slow you down," Jump told Fang.

"What do you think this is-a t.v. show? You don't get to say _go on without me,_" Fang laughed.

He put Jump's arm over his shoulder and started to pull him up the stairs. They made it up about six steps when Miranda came bounding down. She grabbed Jump's other arm and she and Fang sprinted up. As they reached the top of the stairwell, the ground under them shook. Fang started to teeter backwards down the stairs. Miranda leaned forward to grab the door handle pulling Jump with her. He, in turn, grabbed a fist full of Fang's shirt and the three of them plunged through the door as the sprinkler system came on.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	27. Chapter 27

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Dr. Martinez! Help us!" Miranda cried.

Mom turned her attention from Dr. Gates to Miranda.

"He's hurt!" Miranda shouted. She and Fang dragged Jump over to the grassy spot where Dr. Gates was lying. There was so much blood I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Mom ran to his side.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Eraser," Fang said. "He thought he broke a rib. And he fell on his face."

Jump kept coughing and spitting out blood.

"Elevate his head. The blood is going down his throat," Mom said. Miranda sat on the ground and pulled Jump's head and shoulders up into her lap. Mom examined him after using her sweater to wipe away as much blood as she could.

"His nose is broken. And it looks like his lip is bitten through. I don't think his ribs are broken through, but they could be cracked or bruised." Mom said after her exam.

"He's still bleeding so much." Miranda worried.

"Dylan just helped Dr. Gates," I said. "Maybe he can heal Jump."

Jump opened his eyes briefly and let out a muffled "no."

"He doesn't want me to," Dylan said.

"I don't care. Do it," Miranda pleaded. She leaned closer to Jump and whispered something I couldn't hear. He nodded 'yes' and she looked to Dylan again, "Please?" she asked.

Miranda turned her attention back to Jump. "Close your eyes and try not to think about what he's doing." Namely, spitting on Jump's mouth. Yuck.

"You do your thing. I'll hold the wound closed," Mom said to Dylan. "Miranda, try to keep him still. This is going to hurt."

Mom pulled Jump's lip out and pinched the gap closed while Dylan did his thing. Jump squirmed like a cat in a bag, but he took it pretty well. Miranda reached down and took his hand in hers, which he squeezed so hard it turned white. I saw a tear run down the side of his face.

"We should do the same to the outside to minimize scarring," Mom suggested.

I saw Miranda mouth the words _thank you_ to Dylan.

An ambulance pulled in and Jeb ran to meet the medics. He directed them to Dr. Gates. They were a little confused when they were told not to take Jump, seeing as he was covered in blood and looked a whole lot worse off than Dr. Gates. Two fire trucks pulled into the lot and immediately began their drill. It was like watching a well choreographed dance. Each one knew exactly what to do and where to go.

"Hey, what's up?" I heard Gazzy's voice. He and Iggy were walking toward us from a group of trees. The Gasman had a big, proud smile on his face.

"Didn't I say _not_ to bomb the place?" I said sternly.

"It was just a little baby one. Just enough to start a fire in the hybrid lab, melt the equipment and make the sprinkler system go on to ruin the electronics." He pointed at the firemen. "These guys won't have any trouble putting it out."

"But there could be people trapped. People that don't have anything to do with that lab," I scolded.

"That's what the smoke bomb was for-to scare everyone out." Then he looked around at us. "We all got out? Right?"

Iggy had already found Dani and the two of them were hugging in a James sandwich. Angel, Sunny, and Nudge joined in. And there was much rejoicing. I noticed that none of the boys joined that sandwich. Or me. I did grab Fang, though. I like my group hugs a little smaller.

Dr. Burgess sat in the grass watching all of us. He was especially riveted by Dylan's performance. Dr. Graham sat near him, her hands bound behind her back. Jeb had picked up the gun Roger dropped and was using it to convince Dr. Graham not to make any trouble.

"What about them?" I asked, nodding my head in their direction.

"Ted held up his end of the bargain. I promised to let him go. Piper will most likely be moving into Ted's former living quarters," Jeb said.

"So, we're just going to let him go? He just got proof that Gunther-Hagen's methods worked. He's watching Dylan and practically licking his chops. Do you think he's not going to try to continue that research?" I asked.

Apparently I wasn't talking very quietly because Ted answered me. "I am tempted, Max. But honestly, I don't have the clout, connections or the brains to do it on my own. I was an assistant for a reason." He jerked a thumb in Graham's direction. "She's the one you have to look out for. And after Jeb smears my name all over the place-which he will-I'll be lucky to get a job at McDonald's."

"There's always some nut job waiting in the wings. And they always need a protege. I'm not betting against you. We will be keeping tabs on you," I warned.

Mom and Robert took a cab to the hospital, leaving the rental car for Jeb, Malcolm, Nicholas, Jump and Dr. Graham. It seemed like Jump was always the one getting too hurt to fly. Ted decided to go off on his own rather than take a chance that Jeb would renege on their deal. The rest of us flew back to the hotel rooms and ordered about $300s worth of take out.

After dinner, I called to check in with Ella and let her know Mom was okay and would be on her way home that night. Eight of us stayed in two rooms at the hotel while the rest took the jet home.

Home.

It was going to be good to get back there.

All of us. Together.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Close your eyes," I said.

"Isn't that a little redundant? Like taking a shower in the rain?"

"Humor me."

I led Iggy up to Dani and James' room where Dani and Fang were waiting for us. We stopped in the doorway.

"Okay," I said. "You can open your eyes."

Iggy slumped his shoulders and sighed. "Max," he whined. Then he opened his eyes. We all stood anxiously waiting.

"What'd you do, buy every sheet in Target?" Iggy asked.

The rest of us exchanged tentative glances.

"Hey, I can see them!" Iggy smiled broadly.

Fang and I hung white sheets on all the walls and laid them on the floor and bed, too. We had to go to two different stores to get enough to cover the whole room.

"It's like when we were in Antarctica," Iggy continued. "But there's not much more to see here either. Not that I don't appreciate it. What made you do this?"

"Actually, Dr. Gates suggested it. He thought your eyes may be slowly regenerating. Of course, he explained it in more science-y terms. Something about rods and cones and retinas. Retinas, I've heard of, but the cones made me think of ice cream and he lost me," I told him.

Fang rolled his eyes at me. "Dr. Gates thought the doctors at The School probably damaged the cones when they started tinkering with your eyes. The cones perceive light and color and send it to your brain to make a picture." I could see that he was trying really hard to remember how Dr. Gates explained it to us. "I think he said the reason you can see white stuff could be because it's all the light waves together. Or something like that. Of course, it's all just a theory because the only way to see what's wrong is to go back inside-which would probably damage your eyes even more."

"Thank you, Bill Nye," I said.

"Yeah, I think I'll just wait and see," Iggy laughed. "I made a joke. Get it? Wait and _see_?"

Dani put her hand on Iggy's arm. "We were hoping you might be able to see something now." She glanced at me and hesitated before continuing. "Look on the bed."

Iggy turned his head toward the bed, seeming unsure if was seeing something or not. On the bed bundled in a white blanket, only his tan face peeking out, was James. Iggy stood, blinking and straining to see.

"Is that. . . James?" he asked. "I can, sort of, see him."

"Sort of?" I asked, disappointed.

"Well, if I don't look right at him, I can sort of see him with, like, peripheral vision."

"Oh, I'm sorry. We thought it would work better," Dani said. "It's just a big tease." Her lips were pursed and drawn downward. I could tell she was trying not to cry.

"No. This is great," Iggy said. "Being able to see him even a little, is better than only being able to sense his colors." He turned toward us, smiling. "Oh. It's gone." His smile faded.

Fang decided to optimistic. "Maybe if you practice here every day, it'll start to improve faster."

"Good idea, except, this is Dani's room, not mine," Iggy replied. "Why did you do this in here?"

Fang and I looked at each other. Wasn't it obvious? "Uh, I just assumed . . ." I started.

"Assumed what?" Iggy asked. "That I was going to stay here? I can't just move in." He faced Dani. "You didn't think that, did you?"

"Um, no," she answered. "Not unless you think you should."

"No. Not unless you think I should," Iggy said. "I guess it would be convenient, you know, to help with the baby."

I rolled my eyes and threw up my hands. "Convenient?" I sighed. "One of you is going to have to suck it up and be the first to admit your feelings." Being coy wasn't getting them anywhere. "You need to tell her what you told me," I said to Iggy. "You too, Dani."

I grabbed Fang's arm and pulled him away. "C'mon. They need to talk."

I'd like to say I went downstairs or to my room, but the truth is, I stood outside the door and eavesdropped. Fang didn't want any part of it and he really did go downstairs.

It was quiet for too long. I was almost ready to walk in and intervene when Dani finally spoke up.

"So, what did you tell Max?" she asked him.

"Uh," was all I heard Iggy say.

He didn't get a chance to say any more before Dani spoke again. "'Cause I told her I think, um, I think," her voice got quiet, almost a whisper. "I love you." She quickly added, "But I'm not sure how you feel."

Long silence. And by long, I mean about ten seconds. But, ten seconds is an eternity when you're waiting for a response to something like that. I was dying. I couldn't imagine what _she_ was going through. Suddenly, I felt guilty standing there listening.

"Well, that works out," Iggy finally said. "I told her the same thing."

"Really?"

"Really."

She swallowed loudly. "Does that mean you'll take me back?" she asked.

She had to ask? He better!

Silence again. No. Wait, not silence. I could hear little suctiony sounds. Now I was _really_ regretting eavesdropping. And a final smack of lips.

"I do want you back," Iggy said.

"Because of James?" Dani asked.

"Not only. But that's part of it," he answered. "Besides, we can't let the first-" He raised his voice a little. "What did you call him, Max, free-range bird kid?- be raised in a broken home."

Busted.

They both stuck their heads through the door.

"Hi," I smiled. "Sorry. But if you two didn't get back together, I was gonna force you."

"Since when are you my biggest fan?" Dani asked.

"Since you brought a smile back to his face," I said. "And a future for the flock."

**oooOOOOOooo**

Back home. Now that we were all back together, it was beginning to feel like home. With Dr. Burgess still on the loose, most of us were constantly on alert. Despite what he said about Jeb making sure he wouldn't get a legitimate job, I worried that he would find another Gunther-Hagen or Graham. He knew too much about us for my comfort. But we were keeping tabs on him as promised. Gazzy swiped his credit card info, so every time he used it, Nudge could track him. Technology is a beautiful thing. So far, he hadn't left California.

What was occupying my thoughts lately were questions brought up during the rescue. What did Mom have to tell Dr. Gates? And what exactly was up between Dylan and Miranda and Jump? I hadn't even had time to practice my new fire-controlling skill. And I'd been feeling crummy the past couple of days.

The next time Mom visited, I decided to ask her the question I'd been waiting to ask.

"Mom, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Max," she answered.

"Something personal? That might be a secret?" I asked.

She frowned a little. "You can ask me anything. I'll answer if I can."

"You knew Dr. Gates from The School, right?" I thought I'd make sure I had things straight first.

"Uh huh."

"Before I was created? Did you date him?" I asked.

"Yes. Actually, we were together for several years. Even after you were born, er, created. He broke it off when he found out I donated my eggs to the research. He disagreed with what was going on there."

"And you didn't?"

"I was naive. I only saw the good, the potential. I hadn't given enough thought to the consequences." She stroked my hair. "But sometimes the consequences are the best part. If I saw the whole picture, I may not have gotten involved, and I wouldn't have you," she smiled.

"Kind of like James. He ended up being a good consequence," I offered.

"Yes he did." She paused. "So was that your question? About The School?"

"Um, no. My question is. . .is it just me, or does Ella look a lot like Dr. Gates?"

Moms' face turned a little pale. Guess I figured it out. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. I always thought Ella looked like Mom-until I saw Dr. Gates. She had lighter brown eyes, like his. He didn't smile very often, but when he did, it looked exactly like Ella's. I always thought it was cute the way one side of her mouth curled up more than the other.

When she didn't answer, I asked, "Did you tell him before you left the hospital?" Then it hit me how thrilled Ella would be to know her dad is alive. Mom had led us all, including Ella, to believe he was dead. "Did you tell Ella yet?" I asked excitedly. I remembered how happy I was to find my mom.

"No, Max. And I'm not going to."

"What? Why not?" I demanded.

"Roger has a different life in a different state. How are they going to get to know each other? I can't just drop a bombshell on her if he's not going to be in her life."

"Maybe he'll move closer so he can get to know her," I suggested.

"Max, he has a job. He's doing important work. I'm not going to ask him to give that up."

"Are you sure he still has a job? Gazzy pretty much destroyed most of that lab," I said. "He could probably get a job anywhere. Is a job more important than Ella?" I yelled bitterly. I was reminded of how Jeb left me to go back to his job at The School. I couldn't bear the thought of Ella losing her chance to know her dad because of some 'greater good' crap.

"You don't understand." She threw her hands up in the air. "He didn't offer, okay. He didn't ask to meet her. He doesn't want to be a father!" Tears came to her eyes. Before I knew it, she was sobbing and I put my arms around her to comfort her. That was a first, me comforting her.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I didn't know."

She pulled back. "I can't tell Ella. It would break her heart. Promise me you won't say anything."

"Of course not," I hesitated. "But, Mom, everyone who's seen Roger probably thought the same thing I did. What if everybody is wondering if he's her father. What happens if someone accidently lets it slip?"

Mom didn't answer. She looked pensively out the back windows. After that, I couldn't bring myself to ask her other questions I'd been dying to ask her for a long time. How exactly did Jeb fit into her life and why did she trust him?

**oooOOOOOooo**


	28. Chapter 28

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dani was holding James while she rocked side to side on her feet. Nudge was holding his tiny finger between hers and making silly cooing sounds to him.

"He's such as good baby," Nudge commented. "He almost never cries any more. You're so lucky."

"We're all lucky," Fang said under his breath. I gave him a little punch in the arm. "What?" he asked. "I'm just saying. We all get a lot more sleep nowadays. Except maybe in the mornings."

"I thought babies were supposed to cry though," Nudge added. "I read in one of the baby books that babies have different cries with different meanings. How do you know what he needs if he doesn't cry?"

Dani shrugged, "I don't know. I just _know_. Iggy too. It's weird, almost like . . ."

"He's telling you," Angel interjected. She stated it rather than asked. "He only has to cry if you're not listening, like when you're asleep."

"Can you hear James?" I asked Angel.

"No, it's more like pictures."

"Exactly!" Dani said. "It's just pops in my head. I'll picture him getting changed or nursing or me rocking him. It reminds me to do those things." She paused. "Wow, that's going to make the terrible two's a lot easier," she smiled.

"Can I hold him Dani?" Nudge asked and held out her arms. Dani handed James over. Nudge happily bounced him up and down as she babbled to him.

"I have to make a bottle so Iggy can feed him, anyway." Dani went into the kitchen.

Nudge walked around in circles with the baby. "Aaawwww. I want one of these," she whined.

"Oh, no you don't," I said quickly. "Don't even think about it. We don't need any more babies around here. And you are _way_ too young."

"Well, I don't mean right now, Max," Nudge said. "I don't even have a boyfriend!" she blushed.

"Yeah, lets' keep it that way," I said.

Nudge furrowed her brow. "That doesn't seem fair," she said to herself. "I'm old enough. I'm old enough for lots of stuff." She continued to rock James around the room, and smiled at him again.

"Okay, whatever." I closed my eyes for a second. I was suddenly tired. Probably from getting woken up by James early.

"You okay Max?" Fang asked.

"Just tired," I said, waving him off.

Iggy came out of his room. "How about pancakes for breakfast?" he asked us.

"Can I have oatmeal?" Angel asked.

Ugh. Gross. I hated oatmeal. Just the thought of the snotty, runny stuff made me lose my appetite. Iggy put sausage on the stove in a huge frying pan. When I smelled it cooking, I had to leave.

"I'm going back to bed," I said as I walked upstairs.

I heard Nudge ask, "What's wrong with Max? She looks pale."

**oooOOOOOooo**

Nudge was busy typing away on the computer keyboard while I sat nearby sipping coffee. I didn't taste right.

"Hey Max?" Nudge started. "Dr. Burgess just used his credit card to get a hotel room thirty miles from here."

I sat up straighter. "What? Are you sure?"

She tapped on the keyboard again. "Yep. It's a place called Valley View Inn."

Coincidence? I think not.

"We'll have to go and check it out. He must be up to something."

There were two reasons I could come up with for Dr. Burgess to be this close-us and Dr. Graham. I reasoned he was looking for an alliance. If he was looking for Graham, I wasn't going to wait for him to break her out of Jeb Jail.

"Maybe just three or four of us should go and see what he's up to. Want to come?" I asked Nudge.

"Really? You want me? Wait, who else were you thinking?" she asked.

"Fang and Dylan, maybe," I suggested. "Why?"

"You're just asking me as an extra. The three of you don't really need me. It's already overkill." She looked disappointed.

Nudge obviously wanted more responsibility. She wanted to be first choice. I rethought my plan.

"Okay Nudge. How about you put together a team and plan to confront Burgess. The only condition is that I'm going, no matter who else goes, to interrogate him myself."

Nudge's eyes lit up. She wrapped her arms around me tightly. "Oh Max, thank you! I'll get right on it."

She went back to the computer and started working. Gotta love Nudge. It takes so little to make her happy.

A short time later, Nudge came back to me with her plan. I had to admit, it was pretty well thought out.

"So here's what I'm thinking," Nudge began. "You get to go, obviously, and me, because it's my plan. We bring Angel, so she can listen inside his head to make sure he's telling the truth. At first I was thinking Jump because of the emotion thing, but I don't know if he's up to it yet. Anyway, we bring John in case he needs to do his telekinetic thing, maybe hold Burgess in place while you question him. And just in case he's not alone, one more person. I thought Miranda, because she knows him better than the rest of us. There's some kind of connection between them 'cause he asked Jeb to bring her that time. She might get more information than you. No offense." She finally took a breath.

"I have his room number and a floor plan of the hotel, so we can cover all the exits," she smiled proudly.

"Wow, Nudge, you put a lot of thought into that. I usually just pick the oldest ones around," I admitted.

"I know. Believe me, I know," she grumbled. "I thought about bringing Dylan, you know, for eye candy. But I don't think that would work on Burgess," she giggled. "Just kidding."

"So when do we leave?" I asked her. It was her plan after all.

"We should after dinner. I've got a little more prep work to do," she decided.

"Okay, get your team together. Plan on a five-thirty flight."

Nudge happily bounded down the hall to Angel's room. _I could get used to this delegating thing_, I thought. Maybe I don't have to be the leader all the time. Maybe someone else could do it once in a while.

_**There can only be one leader, Max**_

_ Of course, Voice, why should I get a break?_

_ **Giving Nudge a responsibility doesn't mean you've relinquished your position as the leader. You will always be the leader. But you are going to need help more than ever soon**_

_ Yay, another cryptic message_

_ **You'll have a tough decision ahead of you, Max. With consequences not just for yourself**_

I was getting another headache and I was tired. I really didn't feel like going to that hotel and confronting Burgess. _ Jeez, I must be getting really sick_, I thought. Since when do I not like a confrontation?

**oooOOOOOooo**

Dani sat down on the Adirondack chair next to Fang on the deck. Summer-like weather was beginning to wane and fall was close on its heels. Sunset began coming earlier each day, bringing a cool breeze on the mountain. The view from the back deck was a light blue-ish purple sky against a forest green mass of trees. There was an occasional spot of fall foliage and soon the mountain would be covered in golds, reds and oranges among the pines.

Fang gave Dani a sideways glance. Though they had gotten to know each other when he was training her flock, they hadn't spent very much time alone together since her flock joined theirs. He wondered why she sat down next to him on this evening.

"How's Max?" she asked him.

"I don't know, she's still sleeping," he replied.

"Still." she repeated. "Boy she really got knocked down, huh?"

"I guess," Fang agreed. "Her mom said sometimes during stressful times, your body's immune system goes down and you can get sick easily."

"Yeah, I've heard that, too." She paused. " For regular people."

He looked at her inquisitively.

She continued. "It's just strange that she's the only one, seeing as it was stressful for everybody."

"Max takes on a lot of extra responsibility, being the leader," he reasoned.

Dani shook her head. "Mhm. Still. When was the last time she was sick? Surely you've been in situations more stressful than a rescue in a small-time lab. And with a lot less help."

"What's your point?" he asked.

"I'm just saying. Our flock never got sick. Oh, maybe a sniffle for about a day, but very rarely. And I can't think of a time when any of us have gotten any kind of bug since we joined your flock. Can you?"

He thought about it. He couldn't either. He couldn't remember Max ever being sick before, not even a cold.

"You know," she interrupted his thoughts. "At one time, I did feel the way she does. Really knocked me flat on my ass. For weeks. And weeks." He still wasn't picking up on it. "About eleven months ago."

"What happened eleven months ago?"

She looked at him with her eyebrows raised in an obvious 'duh' face. She simply counted until the light bulb went on, ". . .two, three . . ."

"Oh my God," Fang said. "She's gonna kill me!" Suddenly Fang didn't feel so well himself.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Fang walked into the room as I was waking up. The sky was beginning to darken a bit already. I couldn't remember what time I fell asleep.

"You feeling any better?" he asked me.

I sat up a bit. "Yeah, actually. I think I am." I smiled.

He sat on the bed next to me. "You look better." He took my hand. "Do you want to go down and have some dinner?"

"Dinner? How long was I up here," I was concerned.

"A few hours. I didn't want to wake you up for no reason."

I couldn't believe I took another nap. I took one that morning, too. _I never nap_, I thought.

He had a bag in his hand. "I brought you something," he said. God, I hoped it wasn't food.

"You don't eat it, do you? 'Cause I don't know if I'm up for it yet." I didn't want him to think I was unappreciative.

"No, you don't eat it," he laughed. "You pee on it." And he held out a small rectangular pink box with plus and minus signs on it.

I sat up and pulled away from him. "You're not funny," I said in the most serious voice I had.

"Max, face it. You're not just sick. You don't get sick. None of us do."

I wouldn't look at him. I couldn't believe he was serious. What made him think I needed one of those, those tests.

"Fang, there is no way! I'm not. . . No way!" I was practically having a tantrum.

"You can't even say the word, can you?" he laughed again. "It's _pregnant_."

I immediately put my hands over my ears and yelled, "I can't hear you!"

He started laughing again. He was doing an awful lot of laughing at my expense during this conversation. A conversation that I didn't want to have in the first place. He took my hands away from ears.

"Okay, okay. Forget I said anything. I really didn't mean to upset you," he apologized. "You're probably right."

I decided to go downstairs and eat dinner. Just to prove a point, I ate a lot. I didn't realize how starving I was until I sat down. I mean, I eat a lot usually, we all do. But when I took a fifth helping of Shepherd's pie, the others were starting to stare.

"What? I missed lunch," I explained. "I'm feeling much better."

"You do look better," Nudge said.

"Look the same to me," Iggy joked.

I saw a look pass between Dani and Fang. I knew he didn't believe me. And what did he mean, we don't get sick? Gazzy's gotten sick plenty of times. Oh, wait, I guess getting sick from eating too much doesn't really count. Well, we must have gotten colds at some point. I'm sure I remember having to fly out to the store for tissues a few times. Or were they for Jeb? Fang had me thinking and I didn't like it. Anyway, it didn't matter because I felt fine now. And we were about to go pay Burgess a surprise visit.

Before Nudge and the rest of us took off, Fang cornered me again and tried to continue the conversation he started earlier.

"So what was that about?" he asked.

"What?"

"Dinner. You ate more than Gazzy and John combined," he pointed out.

"So, I was hungry."

Fang gave me a questioning look. "Sick in the morning, starving at night? You don't see a pattern?"

"Stop it, Fang. It's not funny any more. Not that it ever was. I'm just run down. There's been a lot going on. A lot of pressure. I still have to save the world," I said, most sarcastically. "I don't need any more pressure from you."

"You need a reality check. The sooner, the better," he said. "Something's wrong. I don't know if it's what I think, but _something_ is wrong with you. And you can't keep ignoring it."

Yes, I could. Didn't he know that about me by now?

**oooOOOOOooo**


	29. Chapter 29

***Two more chapters to this story, then on to the sequel, Evolution Disillusion. I have long neglected that story. But I really do want to see it through. Thanks to those still reading this!**

* * *

**oooOOOOOooo**

We were all in position around the Valley View Inn. It sounded like a quaint little place tucked away in some scenic little town. But it was a cheap, crappy motel with weeds growing in the middle of the parking lot and a faded sign that looked like it was put up in the fifties.

I put my ear to the door and heard snoring inside. Nudge did her metal manipulation thing with the lock and we began to open the door. Being ancient, it squeaked loudly before we had it open far enough to walk through. Burgess stirred and someone on the other bed shot out and ran at us. We were faster, of course, as Nudge shoved the door open all the way and sucker punched the guy. It was Roger.

Well, that was interesting. They were teaming up? Burgess didn't even try to get away. Burgess and Gates had slept in their clothes in case they had to make a quick getaway, but not from us, I found out later. I thought to Angel that we were inside and the other three joined us.

"You didn't have to punch him," Burgess said, referring to Roger. "We were on our way to see you."

"Why not just call?" I asked, only half serious.

"I thought my phone was bugged." Roger admitted. "I got a call from someone at a place called Itex. Have you heard of it?"

My blood went cold. "Itex is no more. We took it down over two years ago," I informed him.

Burgess spoke up, "Well, not exactly. Most of it was destroyed, yes. As a corporation, it has no power. It no longer produces household goods."

"Then it has no money coming in, like before, right?" I pointed out.

Burgess sighed. "There's always money from somewhere. The point is, the Itex main lab is still up and running, financially drained but recovering. Max, the By-Half Plan is still in the works. The central hub is located in the Middle East. Just outside Kirkuk, Iraq. The facility is sheltered by the Zagros Mountains. Tough to get to for Americans."

"Or _anyone_ reading Fang's blog," Nudge added. "The Itex facilities that were destroyed were all in pretty much free countries. I guess Middle Eastern kids wouldn't have had a chance to stage a revolt," she observed.

"So what did they want with you, Roger?" I asked. I wasn't going to refer to him with the proper respect, the cold hearted bastard.

"To join them, of course. Piper-Dr. Graham- told them about me, that she was trying to recruit me. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. That's why I thought my phone could be bugged."

"How much did they offer?" I asked, disgusted.

"My daughter's life," he said quietly.

And then it all made sense. He wasn't the big jerk I thought he was. He was trying to protect Ella. Somehow they found out about her. He agreed to join them, if they agreed to leave her alone. I felt awful for him. Mom had to know the truth, he never even met Ella and he was willing to risk his life for her.

Angel's voice popped into my head.

_He's being sincere. And he still has feelings for your mom. He's not telling you, but they threatened her, too_

"And what's with your sudden turnaround?' I asked Burgess. I noticed Miranda and John watching him intently. Miranda, especially, looked like she wanted to take him to some back alley and beat him to a bloody pulp.

"It's not sudden," he said. "I had almost a year, locked up, to think about my role in your lives." He was directing his answer toward John and Miranda. "I need to make up for some of that."

"You can't," Miranda said under her breath.

Burgess nodded. "I know," he whispered. " But I have to try."

"Look," I interrupted. "I don't know what went down between you two, but we're all going to have to work together on this. Again. He came through last time," I said to Miranda.

"I think he's telling the truth, Miranda," John agreed.

"John, please don't listen to everything he's thinking. You don't need to know all of it." Miranda pleaded.

Angel's eyes went wide for a moment as she looked from the doctor to Miranda. Then her game face was back on.

**oooOOOOOooo**

We confirmed their directions to the house then took off for home ourselves. Before they arrived, I called a flock meeting to discuss our plan of action. After filling everyone in, I put Nudge and Dylan on research and grouped the rest up to brain storm. Even with Jeb, Dani, Mom and the bodyguards staying behind, we still had plenty of us to maintain the buddy system. My stomach was starting to bother me again, so I sent them all away to plan amongst themselves. I stayed in my chair and closed my eyes-just for a second. Being my partner, Fang stayed with me. He stared at me with a grave look on his face.

"I can tell you don't feel well again," he finally said.

I sighed heavily. I didn't bother to defend myself.

"I'm grounding you," Fang said.

"Excuse me?" I laughed. "You can't ground me. You're not my father. Heck, _he_ can't even ground me."

He wasn't smiling. "No, I'm your husband. And I'm putting my foot down. You're not going on this one."

"Oh, yes I am," I insisted.

He leaned over and placed his hands on the back of my chair, then leaned in closer. I'd never been on the receiving end of such an intimidating look from him. Restraining his anger as best he could, he said in a low, slow voice, "You can go when you take that test and show me a minus sign." He glared at me a few seconds longer before letting go and walking away.

I sat there, almost in shock, tears beginning to fill my eyes. It really shook me how scary he was. I tried blinking away my fear along with my tears.

I looked around to see Jump staring at me from his little group in the corner. He started to get up and come over to me, but I fake smiled and waved him off. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Fang couldn't be right. He just couldn't.

**oooOOOOOooo**

I knocked on Miranda's door the next morning. Silence. I knocked again.

"Miranda? Are you awake?" I asked through the door.

"Just a minute," I heard her say from inside.

I tapped my foot impatiently while I waited for the door to open. Miranda opened it just enough to show me her face (the one that still looked too much like mine, but I was getting over it) She was pulling her bathrobe shut, her usual night shirt underneath.

She rubbed her eyes. Obviously I had woken her up. "What do you want?" she asked. I thought she was trying not to sound annoyed, but she did anyway. Maybe she gets that from me.

"We can't find Jump. He went out flying last night after Burgess showed up, but he didn't come back. His bed hasn't been slept in."

"I'm sure he's fine. You know he needs to get away sometimes," she started to close the door.

"A couple of us are going to look for him in his usual spots. I thought maybe you'd want to help," I told her.

"He'll turn up when he's ready. He's not a little kid, you know," she said brusquely.

"I know, but he's still recovering." I thought she'd be a little more concerned, considering they'd known each other for years and she always seemed so protective of him. "Fine. Whatever," I said. She still rubbed me the wrong way sometimes. "If you don't care, we'll find him ourselves." I started to walk away.

"Wait," she stopped me. She sighed and opened the door all the way. Jump was sleeping in her bed. "I'm not worried because he's been here all night," she said quietly.

"Why didn't you just tell me he was here?"

"Because it's nobody else's business what we do," she snapped.

She didn't need to bite my head off. I was willing to believe it wasn't what it looked like. Well, I was before she snapped at me. She stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her. Dylan saw us and walked down the hall toward us.

"You found him?" he asked me. He glanced at Miranda. "It wasn't my place to tell you, Max. Sorry you were worried."

Obviously, he knew Jump was in there and he wanted Miranda to know he didn't rat them out. After he said what he had to say, he left.

Miranda stood there a moment, biting her lip.

"It's . . . A long story. And it's complicated," Miranda confessed. I had time. But she didn't elaborate.

My curiosity was piqued, but I bit my tongue. Though I thought she and Dylan would be getting together, it looked like she and Jump had something going on. I remembered little moments between them, now that I thought of it, that seemed more intimate than they should have. Times she brushed the hair out of his eyes, the way she always came to his defense, and most recently, when the eraser attacked him. She cradled him and held his hand while Dylan reluctantly healed him.

I wondered why I could be so on guard for an attack at any given moment, yet I was oblivious to the relationships between my own family members. I shrugged. It was hard enough for me to concentrate on my own relationship.

"Okay, as long as he's good to go. Roger and Ted are going to be back in a little while. They went back to the motel to get their things." Miranda seemed to shiver at the mention of Ted's name.

"You still don't trust Ted, do you? Is there something I should know about? Am I making a mistake trusting him?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just know that I'm never going to forgive him for the things he did to us. I don't know how you can stand to have Jeb around all the time," she said.

"It's a love-hate relationship. I love to hate him," I laughed. "And he's useful. Miranda, I can't imagine anybody doing worse than what Jeb did to us. What did Burgess do to you?" I finally asked.

She looked down the hall to make sure no one else was listening before she began. "Before Jeb and Fang rescued us, the assistants would do 'tests' on us and bet on the outcomes. It was big business to them."

"Sick."

"Yeah, well, about three years ago, one of the times Dr. Graham came, she mad an offhand comment about how some of our systems could regenerate. She said she bet our reproductive systems would find a way to fix themselves, because of our fast healing abilities. It was the wrong thing to say in front of them, because the assistants immediately started a pool whether we would lay eggs or have babies."

"Seriously? And how were they going-" I guess there's only one way to find out.

Miranda's eyes fixed everywhere but at me. I filled in some of the gaps on my own.

"So they wanted to get you knocked up? At fourteen? By whom? Dylan was gone already, you never knew him. And Jump couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen. Did Dr. Burgess . . ."

"No. No, Burgess never touched me." She looked utterly uncomfortable.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."

"I think I need to tell someone. It may explain a few things," she continued. She took a deep breath. "It _was_ Jump, his name was Owen back then. Dr. Hans had taken Dylan away already and Jump was the next oldest. But still too young. They shot him up with hormones and stuff to make him go through puberty faster. Too fast. He didn't understand what was happening to him. We were all already naive and confused enough. It was awful. He matured in a lot of ways but he didn't have time to grow the way he should have. That's why he's so much shorter than the rest of the guys. Even after he was mature enough physically, he still didn't grasp what the scientists wanted him to do." She seemed to be searching for carefully chosen words. "They showed him, um, movies, I guess you could call them." She blushed, with no hint of a smile.

"When he did get it, he refused. We both did. He got beaten up regularly for refusing. Jump told me that he would put up with it as long as he had to. And he probably would have. But then they threatened me. I was to be given to some of the other experiments-things you call erasers, with Danielle to take my place. It wasn't much of a choice, for either of us. I didn't want Dani involved. We finally complied," she looked down and wrung her hands. "I only had to let it happen. He had to be an active participant."

_Jeez,_ I thought, _that was a scary enough experience at almost seventeen, with someone I really loved_. I couldn't imagine their situation.

"I think he cried more than I did that first time. He'd always go sit in the corner on the floor when it was over. The scientists must have watched, because they usually came to get him shortly after. . . well, after. No matter how long he was in my room before. Fortunately, even after a year and a half, there wasn't anything to bet on. I guess my system didn't fix itself after all. Not sure how I feel about that."

And there I was, possibly pr-the p word, and hoping to hell I wasn't. And it looked as though she was out of luck.

She went on, "Anyway, once in a while they'd forget and leave him with me all night. We'd spend hours talking, about anything, besides what was happening between us. I learned about his love of cars and his fascination with extreme sports. Mostly we'd talk about what we would do once we got out of that place. He wanted to see the ocean more than anything." Miranda had a far off look and a hint of smile on her lips. "Despite the circumstances, I think, I was, developing feelings for him. I thought there must have been something wrong with me, so I never said anything to him."

The bedroom door opened. Jump had been listening from the other side. "I thought you weren't going to tell anyone."

"Just Max," Miranda said. She turned to me. "And you're not going to say anything, right? I wanted you to know what a bastard Burgess is. Although I hate to admit, he seems to be trying to make up for it."

"He's barely scraped together a down payment as far as I'm concerned," Jump spat.

Okay, so here's the part where I totally lacked any semblance of tact and asked, "And you guys are still sleeping together? Isn't that, um, awkward?"

Jump was indignant. I guess rightly so. "Of course not! That stopped as soon as we got out." He looked to Miranda. "But we are together now."

"California really scared me," Miranda explained. "It made me realize how much I care about him. We're taking things pretty slowly, so if you wouldn't mind, keep it to yourself for now."

Poor Dylan, for such a hot ticket item, he certainly was unlucky in love. He just needed to pick the right girl for a change. Looking at them, Miranda and Jump made a good pair. I didn't see it before, but now it was so obvious how they felt about each other. I have a pretty good track record when it comes to being oblivious about such things. Just ask Fang.

**oooOOOOOooo**

My hands were shaking and I broke out in a cold sweat. I felt queasy again, but this time I thought I might really throw up. I sat on the cold, hard tile floor of the bathroom in just my night shirt. I was freezing, but I was afraid that if I moved, I would pass out. The last thing I needed was for Fang to find me in a crumpled pile in the bathroom. With my luck, I'd crack my head on the toilet on the way down.

I hugged my knees until the feeling passed and I was able to get up. Tentatively, I held onto the sink and slowly pulled myself up to a standing position. The face in the mirror was pale and pasty. I splashed water on it and finally made my way down the short hall toward my room. Fang was coming up from the other direction. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me.

Crap.

I was hoping to make it into the bedroom before he saw how awful I looked. I braced myself for another upbraiding. Instead, Fang put his arm around my waist and led me into our room, to the bed. I sat down, still waiting for him to scold me.

"Can I get you anything? Water or crackers or something?" he asked me.

"Maybe some tea?" Why was he being so nice?

"Okay." He hesitated. I knew he wanted to say or ask more but held his tongue. He stood for a moment before leaving for the tea.

"Fang?" I called to him before he disappeared through the door.

"Yes?" He turned around.

My eyes started to fill with tears. I swallowed hard before speaking. "I'm scared." My voice was small and quivering. Not at all Max-like.

"I know," he answered. He turned to leave again.

"Fang?" He stopped once more.

"Yes, Max?"

I sighed heavily. "It's in the bathroom."

He immediately bounded down the hall to the bathroom. It took a while for him to return. When he did, he looked paler than I'd ever seen him. He was still holding the little pink stick in his hand.

"I guess...all this time, deep down...I was hoping I was wrong. I was expecting you say say 'told you so'." He sat down next to me and gently took my hand. "Please tell me you won't go to Itex now."

"Fang, I've never not gone with the flock."

"I know. I can't really stop you, Max, but I'm hoping you'll make the right decision. You're not deciding just for yourself."

I froze. He said almost exactly what the Voice said. Is that what it meant? Did the Voice know I was pregnant? I felt a pang in the pit of my stomach. Pregnant. How did I let that happen?

Reluctantly, I said, "I'll stay behind."

"Thank you," he whispered, then kissed me and smiled. "Holy crap. We're going to be parents. Are you ready for that?"

"Absolutely," I smiled. "Not."


	30. Chapter 30

**oooOOOOOooo**

The single most terrifying moment of my life came in the form of a flock meeting. Not just the flock-Jeb, Dr. Gates, and Dr. Burgess. Even Robert, Malcolm and Nicholas were there. The great room was big, but we were still all a little cramped, crowded around the coffee table full of blue prints, maps and a meeting agenda. I really wanted Mom and Ella there, but with Dr. Gates at the meeting, it was best if they stayed away. I couldn't stop picking at my nails. I sat in a comfy chair pulled up to the coffee table, while Fang stood behind me. Occasionally, he would rub my back and tell me to calm down. To look at him, you'd think he was standing in line at the grocery store. There wasn't a trace of anxiety on his face. Then he picked up his glass of water. He almost couldn't get it up to his mouth, his hand shook so violently. Quickly turning away from everyone, he seized the glass with both hands and brought it to his lips. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, turned around and put the glass back down empty. He gave me a sideways glance. I smiled to myself, knowing he was just as much of a wreck as I was.

_Max, why are you and Fang so nervous?_

_ Get out of my head Angel. It's a stressful situation._

I called for quiet and began to go over the game plan. The groups I put together during the California rescue worked well, but I had to do a little rearranging. Iggy and Gazzy would still be in charge of demolition, as usual. I added John and Jump to their group. I had a feeling we were going to need a _lot_ of fire power. Angel and Sunny would go with Dylan. He could protect them well, if need be. Not that Angel can't take care of herself. Fang, Nudge and Miranda would be the final team. Jeb was sitting this one out, but he was finding a way to get Robert into Iraq. Nicholas and Malcolm were going to stay to protect Dani, James, Mom and Ella. And me. They just didn't know it yet. I was waiting for someone to point out that I wasn't on a team. They all started talking amongst themselves. I cleared my throat and banged on the table for their attention. This was it.

"There's one more thing," I started. Everyone quieted down. Fang slipped his hand in mine. Then the strangest thing happened. I started smiling and I couldn't stop. Some of them smiled back, surely not even knowing why. Then I giggled. Fang looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.

"Um," I hadn't exactly planned out what I was going to say. "You may have noticed that I didn't put myself on any team."

"You'll just go where you're needed, Max. You can figure that out when you get there," Jeb assumed.

"I'm not going."

It was hard to pick out any one comment because everyone had something to say all at once. Mostly I heard a lot of 'what!?'s. I looked to Fang for help.

Fang spoke up, "I'm in charge of this one." The flock began to quiet down. "I asked Max to stay behind and keep herself safe." He swallowed hard as he surveyed the crowd. "At least . . . until the baby is born." There, it was out.

You could have heard a pin drop, or crickets. The room was silent for a good ten or fifteen seconds. Trust me, that's a long time when you're waiting for a response to huge news.

"I knew it!" Dani was the first to break the silence.

Nudge was next, "Oh Max! That's so great!" She paused and furrowed her brow. "What happened to 'we don't need any more babies around here'?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "How come you get one and I don't?"

"I get one because I was careless. You don't, because you're fourteen. I wish I was going with you more than anything," I told her. "But I promised Fang."

There were congratulations and hugs from everyone-well, not the doctors or the body guards. Jeb was unusually un-opinionated. I could imagine what he was thinking. He never approved of me and Fang being together, he certainly wouldn't approve of us procreating without permission. Jeb was getting ready to take Gates, Burgess and Robert to the airport. He almost left without saying a word. I stopped him at the door as he was walking out.

"You don't have anything to say?" I asked. "You're going to be a grandfather."

He blinked, appearing startled for a second. I guess he didn't think of me much as a daughter, so it didn't occur to him that this was technically his grandchild. He glanced over at Fang.

"Max, this is difficult for me to admit," he paused. "Perhaps I was wrong about you and Fang. You do make a good team."

I was waiting for more. I don't know, maybe an apology for all the atrocities he'd inflicted. But there was no more. I had to take what I could get. He walked out the door in silence.

After all he'd put me through, I still gave a damn what he thought. I shook my head in disbelief.

**oooOOOOOooo**

The second most terrifying moment in my life came as I watched my flock, my family, fly off on what could be the most important and dangerous mission ever-without me. Dani and I couldn't do anything but cry and watch them get on the Coalition to Stop the Madness jet. Six thousand miles was a little far for some of them and they wanted to get there as quickly as possible. Mom and Ella came to stay with us. Both of them were thrilled with my news. Although, I seriously doubt Mom is ready to be called Grammy.

It took exactly five hours for Dani and I to go completely stir crazy.

"This is killing me," I confessed.

"I know, me too," Dani replied. "I know I agreed that both Iggy and I shouldn't go, just in case. I mean, James needs to have at least one parent. But if something goes wrong and I'm not there. . ." she trailed off.

"At least you can leave James with Mom. If I go, this one goes, too." I looked down at my still flat belly. It didn't seem real yet. "But I won't be able to do this without Fang. He's the only thing keeping me from falling apart. I can't let anything happen to him."

Dani looked at me, "We wouldn't be that far behind them."

"I was thinking the same thing," I confessed.

I put my hand on her arm. "You really do love Iggy, don't you?"

"Yes," she answered.

"He loves you, too. He told me. He'd probably kill me if he knew I was telling you this. They'd both kill us if they knew we were even _thinking_ about _considering_ flying out there."

"Which, of course, means we're going," Dani added. She was getting to know me better.

After much protesting, Mom finally gave in, realizing it was useless to argue with me. She agreed to take care of James while we followed after the flock. We had copies of the information and knew the plan well. With any luck, Dani and I would get to Itex before any real fighting went down. Or at least before the whole thing was over. Mom put a call into CSM for the jet to come back to get Dani and me. Unfortunately, by the time it dropped off the others, came back and flew over the Atlantic yet again, thirty-six hours would have passed. Too late for us to be of any help. My brilliant idea? Barter a few more favors with good ole Nino Pierpont for his Citation X. I made the call personally and arranged to meet his private jet at the Chandler Municipal Airport, near Pheonix. I hoped the flock wouldn't kill me over the terms of our agreement. But I was desperate. We figured we'd only be about eight or nine hours behind the flock. Still not great, but definitely better. I prayed it was enough.

**oooOOOOOooo**

"I can't get to it from here!" Iggy yelled to Fang over the din of screaming souls and roaring flames. People in white coats, as well as civilians were running for their lives from the burning complex. A few erasers residing there had also escaped, but found themselves engaged by the flock. Most of the lead scientists had been easily detained. The only thing left to take out was the technology.

"I'll have to go inside, light it, and then run for my life!"

"Why can't you just throw it?" Fang asked, about the rather large explosive device Iggy and Gazzy designed to take out the Itex building once and for all.

Iggy shook his head. "It needs to be placed properly in order to be effective. Otherwise, the damage will be more superficial. We need to take Itex out completely this time. This is our big shot."

"Let me do it then. I might be able to find my way out faster. No offense," Fang offered.

"I still don't know if it'll be enough time."

"How much time?" Fang asked.

"From lighting to detonation? Like, fifteen seconds," Iggy told him. Iggy was silently berating himself for leaving such a short fuse on the latest work of art. Usually, he or Gazzy tossed their instruments of destruction from a distance, so a fast fuse was sometimes a must.

Fang's heart sank. In order to get the job done, someone was going to have to risk their life-and likely lose it. And they needed to do it quickly. He put a hand on Iggy's shoulder.

"I can't let you do it. James needs you." He held out his hand. "Give it to me."

"Max would kill me if I let you do it. I'd rather die by explosion," Iggy laughed nervously.

"I'm the logical choice," a voice from behind said solemnly. It was Dylan. "I'm faster than either of you, maybe I can make it out. And I don't have anyone depending on me. It makes sense for it to be me." He didn't wait for Iggy to hand him the incendiary device, he took it from him. "Where does it need to go?"

Iggy hesitated a moment. "Max wouldn't want to lose you either," he said.

"We're running out of time. One of us has to go and I've got the bomb. I'm going," Dylan argued.

Reluctantly, Iggy gave in. "I'll take you there." They proceeded to walk toward the gray metal door leading to the Itex interior.

Fang hooked his hand around Dylan's arm as he walked by and whirled him around.

"Dylan, good luck," he said. "You'll make it."

"Thanks," Dylan replied. "But in case I don't, tell Max I overpowered you two and took it upon myself," he chuckled.

Fang laughed weakly, then took on a more serious tone. "You'll make it," he repeated. "Just the same, I want to you to know. . . well, I'm glad we got past everything. You were there for Max when I wasn't. I'll always be grateful for that. I consider myself fortunate to call you a friend."

Dylan nodded in agreement.

"I hate to break up this love fest, but we should go," Iggy interrupted. He and Dylan continued to the gray door while Fang watched.

Looking around at the chaos, Fang did a mental head count of the flock. He only counted nine and began to panic. He snickered when he realized that he forgot to count himself. It was strange not to see Max. He missed her. And Dani would have made an even dozen. All accounted for, all holding their own. He hoped they would all go home the same way.

**oooOOOOOooo**


	31. Chapter 31

**oooOOOOOooo**

"Wait!" I yelled, "What's going on?" I saw Dylan and Iggy about to go in to a burning building.

"Max, what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay safe!" Fang yelled at me.

"Dani and I couldn't stand not being here." She nodded in agreement with me.

Fang kissed me. "I'll be mad later. I've never been happier to see you than right now." He hugged me tight.

"Someone want to explain to me why Dylan and Iggy are going _into_ the deathtrap?" I asked.

Iggy obliged, "The bomb has to be placed just right. Dylan's the fastest, so he's going to light it and to try get out."

"Try?" That didn't instill confidence.

"Well, whoever goes in, may not make it back out," Iggy explained. "The fuse is too short. I wasn't thinking when I planned this." I could hear the frustration in his voice.

"If we could light it by remote, at least from the stairwell, one of us would have a good chance," Fang added.

An idea popped into my head. I knew they wouldn't go for it, but I _was_ the leader and they weren't going to have any choice.

"I can do it."

"No way. Not even up for discussion," Fang crossed his arms over his chest.

"Listen for a second. Remember at the cliffs, when I threw fire at the pillow? I've tried a few times to hold and control fire since then. What if I throw fire at the fuse? Maybe I can do it from the stairwell. Then all I have to do is go up the stairs and out."

"If you don't clear the building, you'll be toast," Dylan spoke up. "No, it's still better if I do it."

I put my hands on my hips. "My way makes the most sense. You all know it. Iggy, I'll follow you down and you put the device where it needs to go. I'll give you two minutes to get back out to completely clear the area. Then I'll light it and run like hell." I eyed them all as they contemplated. "I can do it."

Fang and I were caught in a stare-down. We didn't have time for this. I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it.

"You're right," he said to my surprise. He never ceased to amaze me. Pulling me close, he whispered, "But you better come back to me."

We kissed for what possibly could have been the last time ever. That thought would hit me a little later.

I hugged the other two, then followed Iggy to the door. I turned to look at Dylan, Fang and Dani standing helpless, one last time.

"Remember this stairwell. Don't confuse it with that one." Iggy pointed to the stairs across the way. "The further down this hall, the better," he said. Even in a crisis situation, Iggy still had his bearings. I hoped my sense of direction would be as good as his.

"Here are the matches." He handed them to me and walked down the hall into the inner workings of Itex, the mainframe computer, the central location of all it's data and major equipment. It was a frightening place to be.

Iggy felt his way around the room, eventually placing his and Gazzy's mother of a bomb in just the right spot. Satisfied, he came back down the hall to me.

"Can you see the fuse from here?" he asked me.

"Yeah. Boy that thing looks a whole lot smaller from back here, though," I worried.

"Maybe you should practice with the matches," he suggested.

I struck one against the box and held it to my hand. The flame stayed when I took the match away. I threw it down the hallway. It only made it about half way. Luckily, Iggy couldn't see that.

"I guess I'll have to throw a little harder," I said sheepishly. "You better get going." I took out my cell phone and checked the time. "Is two minutes enough for you to get everyone far enough away? Maybe I should give you three. Just in case. I want everyone far away when this goes off."

Iggy didn't move. "This doesn't feel right, Max. It's always been me or the Gasman to do these things," he protested.

"Already decided," I said curtly. "Iggy, in case something goes wrong . . ."

"Don't," he cut me off.

"In case," I began again. "I love you. You've been a great brother and a great friend." The possible last kiss with Fang was starting to hit me. "Tell them all I said I love them too. Every one of them. And help Fang get through it." He put his hand on my arm as if to stop me from talking. "Just in case. But I'm gonna make it, don't worry."

I hugged him tightly, tears in my eyes. "Now go. Time starts now!"

"We all love you, too, Max," he said and took off up the stairs.

I looked at my cell phone for the time. It seemed to take two hours for two minutes to go by. I'd give him another minute, I decided. Then I heard what sounded like gun shots and perhaps a helicopter. I couldn't wait any longer.

My hands shook as I lit one of the matches. It went out in my hand. My palms were too sweaty. Crap. I wiped them on my jeans and tried again. This time it held. I concentrated on the flame, willing it to grow. When I thought it was big enough, I pitched it at the fuse as hard as I could. My accuracy was off a bit and I set something else on fire. I got out another match. Before I could light it, I noticed that the flames had crawled across some obviously flammable material and lit the fuse.

Crap! How much time did I lose? Every second counted.

I booked it up the steps, three at a time and shoved open the emergency exit. Iggy was standing right there. Why didn't he get out of the way?

Before the door could even close again, the building exploded upward in a huge fireball, engulfing a helicopter. The huge emergency door blew off its hinges, missing us by inches.

Seemingly, out of nowhere, Dylan was there yelling for us to get down. Didn't _anybody_ do what I told them?!

I didn't have time to react before Dylan spread his wings and pushed me and Iggy to the ground. A secondary explosion forced a ball of flames out the door.

**oooOOOOOooo**

Silence.

My eyes fluttered open. I must have lost consciousness for a moment. Deafened by the explosion, I could hear nothing. Breathing was difficult, not only for the smoke blanketing the area, but because Dylan lay on top of me. Turning my head, I saw Iggy pinned as well, still. A cold shiver went through me. He slowly lifted his head. Blind and temporarily deaf, he groped for something familiar. I was able to reach out my hand to squeeze his in reassurance. A look of relief spread over his face.

"Dylan, get up!" I yelled. At least I think I yelled. I still couldn't hear anything but a soft, high-pitched whine. I shook him. He was still out. Carefully, I crawled out from under him and saw Iggy trying to do the same. Smoke hung thickly in the air, reducing visibility. I wasn't sure where anyone else was. I shook Dylan again.

Suddenly, my hearing came back, bombarding me with a cacophony of screaming, shouting, sirens and smaller explosions.

"Iggy, help me turn him over!" I shouted. Even though Iggy was only a couple of feet away, I had to repeat myself for him to hear.

I gasped when I finally saw Dylan's wings. They were in tatters, burned on the edges, missing most of the larger feathers on the bottom. His shirt had been singed off the back as well, revealing badly burned skin. Hot tears began to sting my eyes. I blinked them away, trying to stay focused.

Iggy and I carefully turned Dylan onto his back. "What's happening, Max? Is he okay?" Iggy asked.

I put an ear to his chest.

Nothing.

My own heart seized in my chest. I punched him hard over his breastbone.

"Max! Tell me what's happening!" Iggy yelled. I was still too choked up and focused to answer.

I listened to Dylan's heart again. Still nothing. _I brought Fang back once, I can bring Dylan back_, I thought.

I punched him again and again. Lacing my fingers together, I placed the heels of my hands over his heart, pushing down and counting. Iggy didn't have to ask me what was happening. He knew.

"Come on, Dylan! Please come back!" I begged.

Gates and Burgess found us in the clearing smoke and took over. Roger continued CPR while Ted began to examine Dylan. All I could do was watch. And pray. To whom, I didn't know. I noticed a grave look pass between Roger and Ted.

"Why are you stopping? Don't stop!" I yelled. I grabbed Roger's shirt. "You can't stop! You have to save him. Dylan!"

Roger put his hand over mine. "I'm so sorry, Max. There's some shrapnel embedded deeply into his . . . there's nothing we can do," he choked out.

I was numb. The whole scene was surreal. Surely, I must have misunderstood. I searched Roger's eyes for any sign of hope, but there was none.

"He's gone," he said quietly.

I sat back on my heels, looking at Dylan. He looked like he was simply sleeping, except for the burn marks on his arms and hands. I got up and stumbled a few feet away before dropping on all fours and vomiting violently.

It had nothing to do with morning sickness. I was heart sick. One of my flock, my family, one of the few people on Earth I loved, was gone. Forever. He gave his life to save me. Like he always said he would.

**oooOOOOOooo**

_**You did it Max. You saved the world. Itex is gone and millions of lives saved from extermination. Just as I've always said you would.**_

_Not all of it_

_**I know it's hard, Max, to lose someone. But it's one life compared to millions.**_

_Right now, I would gladly trade those millions for that one. The world can go fuck itself for all I care. I'm done_

Slowly, I got up and watched the rest of my flock gathered around Dylan. They were all crying in varying degrees, including Fang, clinging to each other for comfort. Dani clamped onto Iggy, probably realizing just how close she'd come to losing him. We'd all come close to dying at one point or another and we all had the scars to prove it. Fang _did_ die. But we always pulled through. We thought we were invincible. Why should this time be any different? I observed my flock as an outsider, scanning the scene. They were the eye of a hurricane, silently gathered in the center of turmoil. None of the frantic, screaming people running away from the chaos even seemed to notice they were there. I caught sight of a few erasers scrambling past. They scarcely paid attention to the ring of mutants that had once been their primary quarry. It was as if the universe was shielding my flock in reverence for the fallen. Numbness took over and settled in for the long hall.

Fang walked over and wrapped his arms and wings tightly around me.

"I'm so sorry Max," he managed to eek out between small sobs. Fang was literally crying, over Dylan. I couldn't remember the last time he shed real tears. Why wasn't I? I hugged Fang back and held on for dear life.

"I know," I answered.

"It's not right," he said when he composed himself. "He saved you, saved Iggy, saved my family. I'll never get a chance to thank him. It should have been me. _I'm_ supposed to take care of you."

Nudge, Angel, Sunny and John joined us, all clutching fiercely.

"It's not fair," Nudge cried. "It's not fair!"

Angel looked up at me with a tear-streaked face, "What are we going to do, Max?"

I turned back to look at Dylan lying on the ground, "We're going to take him home."

The group hug disbanded, each of the members looking at me puzzled.

"Max," Fang started. "We have to get out of here."

"We're not leaving him," I said firmly, my voice, in the same monotone since hearing the words 'he's gone'. "I won't leave him here alone. I owe him at least that. I owe him _everything_, but this is the only thing I can do for him now."

I contacted Jeb, delivering the news myself, both good and bad. No one else was in any shape to take charge. That's what I do. That's who I am. I had almost forgotten that there was good news. Jeb was pleased and proud that we fulfilled our mission well. When I told him about Dylan, he was about as emotional as he was when Ari died. Which is to say, cold as ice. Oh, he said he was sorry, blah, blah, blah. But there were no words of real comfort. No break in his voice that gave away any hints that he actually had a heart.

Jeb had greased the wheels enough to get Robert, Roger and Ted safely out of Iraq and into Turkey, where the Coalition to Stop the Madness would provide air transportation to the United States. Getting two doctors and a body guard out was one thing. Getting Dylan's body out would be up to the flock.

There wasn't much left of the site that was once Itex, but we fashioned a makeshift sling to carry Dylan between us as we flew over the mountains into Turkey. We had to stop and take turns often. Van, Turkey, was only two hundred and fifty miles away, but it took us the better part of the night to reach our destination.

There wasn't enough room for all of us in the CSM jet. I knew there wouldn't be. Fang and I decided to stay behind and wait for the jet to come back for us. I was glad for the break from the cry-fest. And the 'are you okay?'s. I knew Fang would let me sit in silence if I wanted. But now we had nothing to do but wait. And remember.

**oooOOOOOooo**

The thought of sitting around, waiting and thinking wasn't appealing, so Fang and I decided to fly to Madrid in the mean time. The CSM jet would meet us there the next night and take us home. Seventeen hundred miles was a _long_ way. But it kept me from having to talk much. Flying at top speed occasionally, Fang and I made it to Madrid in less than twelve hours, stopping a few times to eat. Not that I had much of an appetite.

Once we got to Spain, we went to went to the prearranged meeting place. I hardly took much notice of the beautiful landscapes as we flew over. Or the diverse architecture of the city. There were some strange looking buildings, some gorgeous hotels that looked liked palaces and something that looked sort of like the space needle in Seattle. Under different circumstances, it would have been a lovely, proper honeymoon destination. I spotted a huge bullfighting ring and vaguely remembered thinking how barbaric and senseless it was. To kill for sport. I hoped I would never have to take a life again, even in self defense.

"You've been awfully quiet, Max," Fang brought me out of my space out.

"There's nothing to say," I answered. "Nothing I say will change what happened." Even to myself, I sounded robotic.

"But you need to let it out," Fang said.

"So now you're my therapist?" I snapped. That was uncalled for. "I'm sorry. I know you're just trying to help." I leaned against him as we sat in a small airport, waiting for our ride. "I have to keep it together, at least until we get home. I can't think about it now."

He kissed the top of my head and I looked up to smile at him. I noticed that his eyes were glistening a little more than usual. He was still emotional about the ordeal. I had to look away. We sat in silence once again.

"Fang?"

"Hmm?"

"My Voice said it's over," I said it casually, like I was telling him what was for dinner.

"What? When?" he asked. "You mean over, over?"

I picked my head up and faced him. "It said we saved the world. From Itex. Do you think it was telling the truth?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't it tell you one time that all the erasers were gone? Maybe it wasn't a lie, though. Maybe it just doesn't know everything," he offered.

"An all-knowing Voice that doesn't know it all? That's my luck, isn't it?" I laughed humorlessly. "It doesn't matter anyway. I told the Voice that I'm done. No more fighting. No more saving anyone. It's just my family from now on." Instinctively, I put my hand over my belly. "Our family."

"Good," he said. I could hear resentment in his voice. I remembered that he wanted me to give up saving the world years ago, when he kissed me for the first time, for real, and he wanted us to run away. How different would our lives be? I sighed. Oh well, you can't go back.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when we were younger," I said quietly.

He craned his neck to look down at me, puzzled and laughed a little. "Are you talking about something specific? Because you never listened to _anybody_ about _anything_. Ever."

I couldn't help but smile at that. He was right. "I mean, when you wanted me to stop listening to the Voice, and Jeb, and go to some island and live a peaceful life."

"I was a stupid fourteen year old kid, Max. Selfish for wanting you all to myself. I'm glad you didn't listen to me. Good and bad, everything that happened in our lives has led us here. Right here, right now. We're together. We have a baby on the way," he smiled brightly, as if he just remembered that. "I can't believe we have a baby on the way." He paused with kind of a goofy look on his face before continuing. "We have a new flock. I'm thankful for all those things. If we had given up, who knows if the rest of the flock would have even stayed with us. We wouldn't have ever met-any of the new flock. There would be no James. Everything would be different than it is now. Maybe it would have been better, maybe worse. We'll never know. And as much as we're all going to miss D-Dylan, I think it's better to have had a short time with him, than none at all." His voice hitched over the name, and with it, my heart. That was, by far, _the_ longest inspirational speech ever given by Fang. I could feel the beginnings of a crack in my shell. (like my bird metaphor?) But I was determined to stay strong. I was Maximum Ride, damn it.

Everyone else had gotten home safely the day before. Mom, Ella and Jeb were waiting at the house, too. Roger was finally going to get to meet his daughter. I wondered how that would go. I wished I could have seen their expressions, but it probably would have put me right over the edge.

All eyes, except Iggy's, of course, were on me as I walked in the door. Ella was crying as she ran to me. Instead of wrapping my arms around her like I should have, I put my hand up and simply said, "I can't." I knew it must have hurt her. I walked straight up to my room without acknowledging anybody else. Before I got out of earshot, I heard Fang say, "She's not ready, yet."

I sat on my bed, alone in the dark.

_**Fang is right, you know. You have to let it out.**_

_You have __**the**__ worst timing, you know that?_

_**I told you that you needed Dylan. That you needed each other. Without him, you wouldn't have survived.**_

_I should have stayed away, like Fang wanted me to._

_**Even Fang knew you weren't going to stay away. I didn't try to stop you because Dylan was there to keep you from harm. That was his purpose.**_

_His purpose? Are you saying that's why you wanted us together? So he could sacrifice himself to save me?_

_**I knew he would give his life for yours when the time came. There is so much more you can do, because you survived. He fulfilled his destiny well, and you've fulfilled yours. Of course, in a perfect world, it would be his baby you're carrying.**_

_He thought I was his destiny. Well, he used to._

_**You were. Just not the way he thought. As regrettable as it is, he was a means to an end. You were more important.**_

_He was a person, and he was important to us. We loved him. You wanted him to be a sperm donor and a body guard, then get tossed aside. Why didn't you tell me? You could have warned me. I could have prevented it._

"I hate you!" I screamed out loud.

Fang appeared in the doorway.

"Not you," I said quietly. He sat on the bed next to me and held my hand.

"I know," he said gently. " Let it out, Max."

I thought about what the Voice told me. I would tell Fang later. But for now, I just cried.

Finally.

The End

**oooOOOOOooo**

**This story is finally over. I didn't want the last chapter hanging over my head. There is a continuation called Evolution Disillusion. I haven't worked on it for a while, but eventually I will get back to it. So far, there are 27 chapters. Thanks for reading!**


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